Colleges

'Bowden Bowl' inspires mixed feelings

Other family members drawn into big game.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published August 30, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Even with eight "Bowden Bowls" in the books, Florida State's Bobby Bowden likes the annual father-son matchup against Clemson and its coach, Tommy Bowden.

A part of it, anyway.

A small part of it.

"I still enjoy walking out on the field and seeing Tommy and seeing Brad Scott and some of the other guys I used to work with," he said. "That's the social part of it; that's good. The fact that you walk out there and there's your son who you don't get to see enough of anyway is good. But now the fact that you've got to beat him and he's got to beat you or one of us is going to get talked about, that part doesn't do his mama any good."

Ann Bowden is not a fan of the "Bowden Bowl." In recent years, she has been a reluctant spectator.

"It's tough on Ann Bowden," her husband said. "She loves her children. I don't, but she does."

AT LEAST THE FAX WASN'T SMUDGED: Bowden talks to Tommy during the week, but Tommy said he didn't get a call last year telling him that his brother, then-FSU offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden, would resign. "He did not talk very much about it because it was family," Tommy said. "I actually found it out from a press release from Florida State."

NEUTRAL-SITE GAME: FSU has been trying to schedule a game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, but finding an opponent that makes sense and, most important, cents, (like a West Virginia) appears to have scuttled the plans for 2008.

If that's the case, the Seminoles could find themselves with another home date or back in Jacksonville next fall for a neutral-site game; they're heading there for a game against Alabama on Sept. 29 that has sold more than 85,000 tickets.

BIG OPENER: The No. 6-ranked women's soccer team, which reached the national semifinals the past two years and three of the past four, opens Saturday at perennial power Portland, ranked No. 4 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll.

But easing into the schedule isn't coach Mark Krikorian's style, even when he's likely to rely on a number of freshmen, including midfielder Marissa Kazbour (Bloomingdale High).

A SETBACK: Women's cross-country star Laura Bowerman (King High), limited last season while recovering from a stress fracture in her left foot but was the third Seminole finisher in the NCAA championship meet, is likely out this season.

Bowerman, who has a redshirt to use, said all her MRIs in the summer have shown no fracture, which is good news, but she will see another doctor in a couple of weeks to nail down the problem.

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347. Read his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/Seminoles.

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 23:57:39]