By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Few people talk as passionately about college football than ESPN’s Holly Rowe. That came across immediately and throughout Monday night as she enthralled a crowd at the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Kickoff Dinner in the Shreveport Convention Center.
Rowe, who began her college football obsession in elementary school in Bountiful, Utah, with a father who was a huge BYU fan, is a multi-faceted fan – and sports journalist. While she’s annually on the sideline for college football’s national championship game, and doing compelling profile stories featuring the sport’s premiere personalities, she’s also a primetime figure in the rapid emergence of women’s basketball on the national scene. She proudly points out TV ratings for this year’s NCAA Women’s Final Four soared past those for the Men’s Final Four (19 million to 15 million viewers), and she’s well known for her reporting on young superstars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
But football is in her DNA. And the college game, and specifically the local bowl, introduced her to Shreveport long before her first visit Monday night.
“I can honestly say the only reason I know where Shreveport, Louisiana is, is because of the Independence Bowl. I grew up watching that game on TV, and wondering where’s Shreveport? It has a great identity, a great reputation. Everyone here has done such a great job (with the bowl game),” she said. “I saw one of the recent coaches say, ‘the reputation for friendliness and service, we learned it in seven seconds off the bus.’
“That’s probably the greatest compliment you can have. It is important that you continue it even as the bowl landscape changes, and I hope it continues in a strong way,” said Rowe in a media session following her 40 minutes on stage and another 20 minutes posing for photos with anyone who asked.
Speaking of that college football landscape ….
“I’m so excited for the new playoff system. But first of all, I don’t want to offend the bowl games because they are such a huge part of our culture and tradition. I’ve been going to bowl games with my family since I was a little girl,” having repeatedly in her presentation cited trips to the Holiday Bowl to watch BYU in her youth.
“But I also think more teams involved in the playoffs is exciting. More fan bases get to be involved. It’s going to blow up college football even bigger and better than it has been. We got into a period where it was the same 2-4 teams over and over, and we were losing some of our fans. I think this is going to be great for the sport,” said Rowe.
She acknowledged the trepidation fans have about the evolution of the game and all of major college sports. Ever the optimist – as a person who has survived a fierce battle with melanoma – Rowe sees blue skies ahead.
“It’s going to be different. I don’t want to say better or worse. I think some of us traditionalists, we think it’s not the same, but I want to grow and adapt with the game. I think it will still be positive,” she said.
Rowe proudly spoke about covering different levels of the game, including years of working telecasts of the Division III national championship game, and the Mid American Conference title contest.
“I have a great love and fondness for the different levels of college football,” she said, stressing she is among millions of women who feel the same.
“A lot of women have grown up as football fans. I have never thought of myself as a female football fan. I just love football,” she said. “I grew up loving the game, studying the game, keeping the stats. I recently cleaned out my garage and found newspaper articles I had cut out from the 1980 Miracle Bowl with BYU and SMU.”
Asked to pinpoint favorites to challenge defending champion Michigan for college football superiority, she wasn’t ready to do it. Rowe studies the offensive lines of contenders, and the defensive fronts, and gradually identifies her picks to make playoff noise.
She admitted “such a soft spot in my heart for LSU” developed from covering lots of Tigers’ contests in football, women’s basketball, softball and gymnastics. Rowe said she was elated about LSU’s recent gymnastics NCAA championship and credited Kim Mulkey for the remarkable turnaround of women’s basketball into a national championship program.
“I did Joe Burrow’s first game, against Miami. In that postgame interview he said, ‘we’re a really good football team. People just don’t know it yet.’ Eighteen months later, they won the national championship, (going) on a great run with those incredible wide receivers and of course, Joe Burrow’s awesome,” she said. “That is one of my most fond memories.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com