What a GREAT statement.
I love seeing teams refuse to go to bowls because they are not up to their standards. Shows a true level of competitiveness.
I think it was 1983 and Alabama went to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Bear Bryant stopped taking his medication and died. So much for the Liberty Bowl.
Well, in the words of the immortal Samuel L. Jackson, allow me to retort.
Back in 2004 Tech played in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. Pretty much the epitome of a "crap bowl": in Boise, on blue turf, we played Tulsa, and just about everything else. The players
loved every minute of it. First, they were treated like kings by the hosts, who knew where their bread was buttered. Second, most of the players hadn't even
seen snow before, much less getting skiing lessons. They also got really slick winter garb; something most of them didn't have, for reasons already mentioned. Then we went out and cremated Tulsa with P. J. Daniels (Mills is his clone, btw) setting a bowl rushing record.
After the game, the story said that a delegation of players approached Gailey and asked if they could come back to Boise in 2005 if they won the ACC. They weren't impressed with his answer.
So, yes, the players
love bowls. You get to travel to places you've never been before, you get treated like nobility, you get free stuff, and you get to play another game. The coaches are partial to them as well. I hope we go again. This year.