“You think I’m going to miss playing in our first win over Penn State next year? No way The pros can always wait. I’m having too much fun right now,” The Franchise seems to be saying.

There was one defining moment for me in today’s 37-15 Temple win over Wyoming and it is probably not one you will guess right away.
It was just a little picture, not the big one.
The Owls hoisting that New Mexico Bowl Clay Pot Trophy?
Yeah, good guess, but try again.

Rod Streater’s touchdown catch of Chris Coyer’s pass right before the half to make it 28-7?
Again, nice try.
Give up?
Ok.
I’ll tell you.
It was head coach Steve Addazio grabbing Matty Brown in a bear hug in the first half.
That said it all for me.
If every Owl had a heart as big as the one in Matty Brown’s body, Temple would be playing for the national championship on the second week of January instead of coming home with a New Mexico Bowl Trophy in the middle of December.
Brown was so upset coming out of the game after one play that he made it known.
Instead of yelling at him, Addazio took the moment to console him and tell him how much he was loved. Addazio wrapped him in a hug and walked him away, saying something gently in his ear that seemed to resonate with him.
That was an important moment for me and it should have been an important moment to every Owl fan.

A sweet T-shirt headed my way.

It was for this Owl fan.
We have the right guy leading this program and I for one hopes he stays for a long, long time and does not have the same kind of wandering eye the last guy had.
If  you are a Temple fan like me, this is one of the two greatest days of your life.
The other day came in 1979 when a fullback named Mark Bright ran over and through California for a 28-17 win in the Garden State Bowl.
This time, Total Domination came in the form of a 100-yard day by Bernard “The Franchise” Pierce and an offensive MVP trophy from quarterback Chris Coyer.
Of course, there was Chuck Heater’s defense.
It was there all year and it will be there next year as well.
This is just the start of something big at Temple and, if The Franchise stays next year, it will be a very big and fun season for not only him but for all of us and maybe, just maybe, a January bowl win to cap it.
Meanwhile, we know we have a coach who is so tuned in he knows little picture can be just as important as the big one.

Although I prefer Fight Temple Fight, my guess is that T for Temple U will be sung a few times at just about every bar in the Philadelphia area (and a few outside of it) this Saturday.

The Owls listen to some local hospitality in New Mexico.

If you are like me and your beloved Temple Owls are a little geographically west of your price range, you can do one of two things:
1) Stay at home, pace around the room, yell at the TV set and talk to yourself for three hours;
Or …
2) Find a place where you can do the same with fellow Owl fans.
I chose the latter.
Instead of spending more than $1,000 on a road trip, I’m headed to Center City to spend about $980 less on Saturday afternoon.
I get a little bit of the experience of cheering for the Owls with fellow Temple fans, but none of the bills afterward. Heck, because it is a Saturday in December, even the metered parking is free.
I’d prefer to be at the stadium sharing the experience with my great fellow Owl fans, like I did in Section 121 all year, but Albuquerque is way above my pay scale.
I have a feeling, in this economy, a lot of my fellow Owl fans are in the same predicament. Temple vs. Wyoming football at 2 p.m. on Saturday on one TV (ESPN), followed by Temple vs. Texas in hoops at 2:30 on ESPN2. The plan now is to watch hoops during the football commercials.
As a service to those fans, we offer Temple Football Forever’s Bowl party special today.
There are plenty of great places in the Philadelphia area to watch the game and we’re going to offer you a few of our favorites today.
The key thing is that if there is one other Temple fan there, it’s better than watching the game alone.
Philadelphia Center City:

A lot nicer inside than it looks from here.

Kelliann’s, 15th and Spring Garden _ The first time I ever walked into this cozy little bar at my jaw dropped and it was not just because of the stunningly beautiful female patrons (there are plenty of those, by the way). It was after work and the Phillies were in the playoffs and the 56-inch HDTV offered the most spectacular picture I had ever seen to that point. (Since then, Parx Casino’s cluster of 10 same-size TVs together behind one bar have beaten that. I don’t like Parx because there’s a guilty feeling being in a room with 10 spectacular TVs behind one bar when living in a world where kids are dying of hunger. Maybe it’s just me.) At Kelliann’s, Scott the bartender will turn the Temple game up as loud as you want. To say the men’s room is a little small is an understatement. A regular-size phone booth is larger. Seriously. Don’t go there is you plan to do No. 2. Otherwise, a great place to watch a Temple game.



The Field House, 12th and Filbert

Field House, 12th and Filbert _ This is the official Temple Bowl Party and I’m sorry I can’t recommend it. The one time I went in there, I asked for the sound to be turned up to a Temple football game. I got flat-out turned down. Blasting in the background was the sound of a Wisconsin vs. Northwestern football game. It hissed me off so much some midwestern football game had sound and the hometown Temple Owls didn’t, so I walked out as a matter of principle. Still, a good place to go because this will be one of the largest Temple crowds around and the open bar is only $15. If you don’t mind not being able to hear the game (the sound is on for private parties, but the cheering and other background noise prevents you from hearing the announcers), this is the place to go.

South Philly Tap Room

The South Philadelphia Tap Room, 15th and Mifflin _ I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about this place and the TVs there. From what I’ve been told, hearing the sound is no problem and the HDTVs are of very good quality. The place also gets rave reviews for its excellent selection of beers and quality of food. This would be like going to the Field House, but also having the added bonus of hearing the game. This one block west of Broad Street, next to St. Agnes Hospital so if the Owls give you a heart attack, you have a very good chance of surviving.
The Bishop’s Collar, 23d and Fairmount _ A very Temple-friendly bar with good TVs and an old-time Temple football helmet behind the bar. Good chance there will be a lot of Temple students there.
Suburbs
If you are in Blue Bell, P.J. Whelihan’s has hosted Temple parties in the past and most who went there walked away impressed. There is a new Chickie and Pete’s on Route 611 in Warrington and that is always a good place to watch a game, as are the ones in South Philadelphia and the Far Northeast. Calloway’s in Huntingdon Valley (County Line and Shoemaker Roads) has two outstanding HDTVs at the bar.
New Jersey
Don’t know much about this state because, to me, the Delaware River might as well be the Atlantic Ocean. I know I was at the Pennsville, N.J. Applebee’s once and asked for the sound of a Temple basketball game to be turned up (just enough to hear) and another waitress walked by and asked the bartender “what is that noise?” and made her turn it down. I never went back. If you have specific places you like in New Jersey, add them in the comment section below.

The Panache Restaurant in D.C. is in the Golden Triangle downtown, directly across from the Mayflower Hotel.

Other parties
D.C. _ There is a big FREE party scheduled for the Panache Restaurant, Downtown
1725 DeSales Street Northwest; Washington, DC 20036-4406; (Near Connecticut/Road Avenue NW).
Enjoy complementary heavy hors d’oeuvres and one free drink ticket (21 and over) courtesy of the Temple University Alumni Club of Washington D.C. Don’t forget to wear your cherry and white and enter the free raffle. There is no need to pre-register.
Pittsburgh _ There will at least be two Owl fans at Pomodoro’s in Wexford/Franklin Park. Ask for either Steel Owl or Pennsyltucky Owl. The place has lots of good beers and enough TVs to devote two to Temple (one for the football game and one for the hoops’ game).

There are at least two cops on every corner in NYC. Love it.

New York City
Duke’s Murray Hill (560 3d Street, between 37th and 38th Streets) will be the New York City party of choice for Temple fans. This is within easy stumbling distance of Penn Station, so you can take a train from Philly or Trenton, get totally blasted, get back on the same train and be sober by the time you arrive in Philadelphia. Just a thought. I love taking the train to New York City. I auditioned twice for “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and just missed the cut both times. I recommend the train ride and the city, which has at least two cops on every corner, which is a very good thing.

Wyoming has never seen anybody like Matty Brown, the Owls’ No. 2 back.

And I’m sure Wyoming has never seen anything like No. 30.

Math professors would have a field day crunching the numbers produced by Wyoming and Temple this season.
Both teams finished 8-4.
Both teams had one marquee home game against a traditional  BCS powerhouse, with Wyoming getting blown out by Nebraska, 38-14, and Temple losing a heartbreaker against Penn State, 14-10.
Temple is ranked No. 7 in rushing offense and Wyoming No. 115 in rushing defense.
You can talk about all of those numbers all you want, but the numbers that strike me the most are 63-19 and 25-17.
Utah State, a team I feel has comparable talent to Temple (and I really think Temple has more talent) was able to beat Wyoming, 63-19. Air Force, a team locked in a life-and-death struggle with Army (before winning, 24-14), played a competitive game with Wyoming, losing, 25-17. Temple blew out Army, 42-14.
Of course, Wyoming fans can point to two numbers, 28-27, and 13-10.
Wyoming was able to beat Bowling Green, 28-27, and Temple lost to Bowling Green, 13-10.

However, Temple was in the middle of a nighmarish quarterback situation at the time, when head coach Steve Addazio refused to remove Chester Stewart in that game despite a whole lot of three-and-outs and two injured running backs. Temple needed a quarterback who could make a play and finally found one in Chris Coyer, who can make a whole lot of plays. Stewart played admirably in relief vs. Kent State, but Coyer is a horse of a whole different fire department (to borrow a Bum Phillips’ phrase).
With Coyer, Temple is able to maximize its running game by making explosive plays down the field on play-action passes.
To me, Saturday’s game is quite simply Temple’s unstoppable force (run game) vs. Wyoming’s movable object (run defense).
The forecast right now calls for 43 degrees, snow showers possible but no storm, and that’s good running weather.
I’ve crunched all of those numbers and variables and have come up with a sum total of 45.
Temple 31, Wyoming 14.
The over-under is 46.
I’d lay the 6 1/2 before taking the under.
I just hope none of the Owls drop the Native American Clay Pot, which is the very fragile trophy that goes to the winner and one I’m sure they’ll be reaching for, ohh, about 5 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.
Maybe they should put the hands’ team in for the trophy-hoisting ceremony.