The regular season is always exciting for college football fans but nothing compares to the excitement and hype surrounding bowl season. Fans are scrambling to find low-priced flights and bargains on game tickets, with the opportunity to see the Buckeyes face a team they typically don't run into.
But one question always lingers in their minds: What's the the experience like for the players?
As a former player I'm sure I can speak for all players and say that the days or weeks leading up to a bowl game are fun and sometimes tiring. Playing under Jim Tressel, we had an old-school approach to bowl preparation: plenty of work, but ample time for the perks and social opportunities at the site.
Preparing to face the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl my junior season may be my most memorable bowl experience for a few reasons. I can still remember walking out onto the field for the first practice of bowl season and thinking that it was going to be like years prior where we would be on the field for about an hour just to get our legs loose, but the agenda was different this time.
As players filed out of the locker room the coaching staff was standing in the end zone and the field was all clear seemingly for practice to proceed, and then the whistle blew and we were instructed to make our way to the coaches. To our dismay – well, at least to my dismay – we had to run about 10 100-yard sprints before practice even began.
This routine continued for the majority of the practices we held in Columbus up until our five-day Christmas break, where we were given the opportunity to head home and unwind with our families before “The Bowl Grind” started in earnest.
Players would fly to the bowl site – in this case, Pasadena – and the real work would begin. Practice on site for the Rose Bowl was like other years: 8:30 a.m. sessions that consisted of nothing but offense and defense going against scout teams simulating the opposing team's schemes. Bowl practices can be a little more laid back than regular season practices, but make no mistake about it, they were still intense.
Outside of practices, there were plenty of perks and cool opportunities, such as gift bags, dinners and entertainment lined up by the bowls and the team staff. The Rose Bowl certainly didn't disappoint, handing out video game consoles, a nice watch and other gifts to players participating in the game.
The entertainment, however, was the best part of the Rose Bowl trip. We had the opportunity to visit the Improv to see comedians Joe Rogan and DeRay Davis perform and it was a blast. Bowl entertainment is a chance for the team to take a break from the hard work on the field and enjoy the fruits of our labor, so to speak. As is Rose Bowl tradition, we also had the chance to take part in Lawry's Beef Bowl, and we enjoyed the prime rib to the fullest.
Hotel life was amazing. We were pampered with as many complimentary massages as we could handle, but the highlight may have been the game room set up with multiple game consoles, pool tables, arcade games and plenty of food for the players. Coach Tressel allowed us some freedom to get away, too, and take in all that Los Angeles had to offer.
In the final three or four days leading up to the game, we'd take care of things like meeting for our team pictures at the stadium. Curfew was moved up and leisure time was cut shorter to get our minds right for the task at hand.
“We just won the Grandaddy of Them All. What a day!”
I can't say enough about the game itself. Pre-game warmups were more electric than I could have ever imagined – we had something to prove and being an underdog, we warmed up with an urgency unprecedented in my college career. Everything about the Rose Bowl is unique, from the grass, to the sun setting on the San Gabriel Mountains, all setting the stage for a memorable experience, highlighted, of course, by our 26-17 win over the Ducks.
After the final whistle, all I remember is the confetti raining down. I got down and thought to myself, “We just won the Grandaddy of Them All. What a day!”
We celebrated into the night, hanging out in the hotel game room and finally, poolside before retiring to our rooms to rest up for the long flight back to Columbus the next morning.
Bowl preparation can be long and tiring, due to practicing for nearly a month before the game, but the payoff is something I, as a former player, am blessed to have experienced.
Brian Rolle was a two-year starter for Ohio State at linebacker, finishing his career in 2010 as a team captain and earning First Team All-Big Ten honors after leading the team in tackles.
