They say that death, taxes, and an occasional sin or two are the only sure things. But, heck, those things are unpredictable. Well, mostly. So, let's talk about predictable sure things. Like the ones that used to happen every New Year's Day. But, sad to say, don't happen anymore.

I'm talkin' about New Year's Day Bowl Games. We could set our annual "clock" with the same-day playing of the Cotton Bowl, followed by the Sugar, the Rose, and the spectacular teams and halftimes of the Orange Bowl. Dare I not over-state fact when I say that they were as much a part of New Year's Day ritual for sports fans and non-sports fans alike as black-eyed peas and leftover fireworks. But the tradition slipped away ... victim of changing times, and murdered by greed and ego.

Cotton. Sugar. Rose. Orange. May the New Year's Day Bowl Games rest in peace, while the rest of us wallow in this fraud known as the Bowl Championship Something-or-another. Tradition-rich bowl games are gone from New Year's Day television fare, only to be replaced by "Bowling For Dollars" reruns. Gone! Disappeared just like my last $20-dollar bet at the Riveria in Vegas, and damn near just as fast.

So, go ahead. Have your computerized college football championship game. Throw in the mealy-mouthed drivel that comes before it ... and those prima donna foo-foo all-star games that come after.

Me? I'm gonna' write to Pope Gregory. When he designed New Year's Day - JANUARY FIRST - into his calendar, he also designed the Cotton, Sugar, Rose, and Orange Bowls. Did I say I had a tendency to over-state?