ShareThisBy GREG WALLACE
Scripps Howard News Service
Friday, August 31, 2007
Let's be honest: after eight years, the Bowden Bowl had gotten a little stale.
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden didn't talk much with his father, Florida State's Bobby, until after the game. Ho-hum.
Family matriarch Ann Bowden stopped getting extensive camera time in the stands.
Whether the Tigers or Seminoles won, it didn't have a huge impact on the Atlantic Coast Conference or national title races.
Thanks to television and some off-season intrigue, Bowden Bowl IX has its zing back. A Labor Day night kickoff televised nationally by ESPN makes a huge difference.
So does haziness surrounding Florida State's new offense under coordinator Jimbo Fisher and Clemson's unsettled offense featuring new quarterback Cullen Harper and a rebuilt offensive line.
And if any Bowden has the advantage, Tommy says it certainly isn't him.
"There aren't a lot of Monday night games, a lot of information or resources available other than Florida State and Miami (who played on Labor Day the past three seasons)," Bowden said. "And (my father) isn't telling. He's not giving us any bait."
When Miami told FSU it wanted out of the Labor Day timeslot, Florida State went searching for another opponent. Bobby Bowden said last month that Clemson was one of the only schools with legit interest.
"Even though the opponent was Florida State -- we asked for Florida Atlantic, but (ESPN) wouldn't go for it," Tommy joked. "Once they said we had to play Florida State, the national exposure was too good. We're usually not offered that type of platform unless you play a team of Florida State's caliber. Really, I just thought the positives outweighed the negatives."
Bobby agreed.
"We like Monday night football Labor Day night," he said. "I don't want to do it every Monday, but it's like Monday Night Football. If we didn't grab that night every school in the country would try to grab it. When I found out the opportunity to do it again, I said, 'Grab it.' I wanted the Monday night game. It happened to be Clemson, who we have to play anyway."
One of the biggest negatives will be preparing for the game itself -- and the effects it will have on the next two weeks.
For a normal Saturday game, Clemson practices Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with Friday serving as a walk-though day.
This time, the Tigers will have Monday-Thursday, plus Friday and Saturday to prepare, with Sunday as a walk-through day.
But that will leave just Tuesday through Friday to prepare for Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 8. Tommy Bowden knows his team must strike a delicate balance in preparation.
"We have to take into consideration how hard we work at the end of the week towards Florida State with a short week next week," he said. "We've had to look at changing our schedule. One sign of maturity in a team is its ability to adjust to change."
The rivalry itself has evolved and matured over the past five years, too. After Bobby and FSU won the first four Bowden Bowls, Tommy and Clemson rebounded in 2003 for a 26-10 win with Tommy's job on the line.
Overall, Clemson has won three of the last four, including a 35-14 win in 2005 and last fall's 27-20 win.
"It's become more of a rivalry," Tommy said. "We hadn't beaten them (since 1989) when I got here (in 1999), so it's a different flavor, a rivalry game in that respect. It's never a rivalry until you beat the other guy a little bit."
That said, neither Bowden seems to truly enjoy the rivalry.
The entire Bowden clan traditionally vacations at a condominium in Panama City Beach, Fla., each summer. Despite the game's opening-week placement, Tommy claimed it wasn't a hot topic this summer.
"Summer is so far away from (football)," he said. "We go on vacation to get away from football. There's not that much discussion unless we go out to eat and someone brings it up. We play golf (and talk about) who's seeing each other's ball, who's cheating, bringing them back in, how many strokes it is. There's more competition in golf than football. We've got the cheaters in my family and (Bobby) is one of them."
Tommy is uncertain whether his mother would make the trip next week, and Bobby affirmed those opinions in his own way.
"My wife would like me again if I got Tommy off the schedule," he said. "We don't like it anymore. We keep it in the confines of Florida State vs. Clemson."
