The Rose Bowl Game is famed not just for its history, but also its venue. The game was first played in 1902 and has been played continuously since 1916, making it the oldest NCAA football postseason game (the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sun Bowl are next with 1935 starts). And since the 1923 construction of the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, the game has been played there every year except for 1942 (moved due to World War II) and 2021 (moved due to California COVID-19 restrictions), and the venue has been cited as a key reason why the game has maintained its prime New Year’s Day time slot and been included as part of the College Football Playoff (and even had significant pull in decisions about expanding the CFP). But ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith said on First Take Tuesday and Wednesday that the game it should be moved to the Los Angeles Rams’ home of SoFi Stadium…because of the traffic issues around the game.
I love @stephenasmith.
I’ve never disagreed with a take more. pic.twitter.com/80FvrqDaVn
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 3, 2024
Traffic to the Rose Bowl was so bad, Stephen A either wants the game moved to SoFi or for him to be allowed to arrive at the game via helicopter.
The First Take crew wasn't feeling either option. pic.twitter.com/TWOnVLlqfw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 3, 2024
The first video is a flashback to Smith’s suggestion on Tuesday:
“How about having the Rose Bowl at SoFi? How about that? How about that?” Shannon Sharpe pushes back with “That won’t be the Rose Bowl” and Smith says “There will be roses there. There will be roses there. There are a bunch of things in life that are historical, that are historical, okay. That d*mn traffic in Pasadena, c’mon, y’all!”
On Wednesday, that day’s First Take cast of host Molly Qerim and panelists Marcus Spears and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo brought this up again to make fun of Smith’s take, leading to Smith doubling down on it in the second video above. Here’s the key part of Smith’s comments there:
“This is a spectacular stadium, and all I’m trying to say is you’ve got 100,000 people showing up. Literally, you get off the highway, so traffic is backed up for miles trying to get off the exit. …It’s only one lane, and 100,000 people. I mean, d*mn! It’s difficult to get to the d*mn game! I swear to you, and this is bougie, I swear to you, if I could have, I’d have took a helicopter there. If they’d have let me, I’d have took a helicopter there. Traffic was that bad.”
This then sees Marcus Spears and Molly Qerim roasting Smith for his bougieness (which included complaining about traffic while being driven to the game and suggesting the helicopter idea), and Spears pushing back on Smith’s idea of moving the game. And that idea took a lot of further criticism on X/Twitter. Here’s some of that:
Thoughts and prayers to the college football casuals who have to sit in traffic once a year to attend a game. https://t.co/bKRc114UIH
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 3, 2024
https://twitter.com/CollegeSportsO/status/1742580631949689187
Stephen A. Smith already has a 'Worst Take of the Year' candidate.
The sports show host suggested the Rose Bowl location be moved to better suit his travel needs.
Read: https://t.co/LwzAZPdDN5https://t.co/LwzAZPdDN5
— BroBible (@BroBible) January 3, 2024
https://twitter.com/Moneyline_Mac/status/1742614311690817880
https://twitter.com/mccook2002/status/1742621898897326261
While there is certainly notable traffic around that game, the idea of moving the Rose Bowl is anathema to many college football fans and media, as seen in the responses to Smith’s take here. And this does illustrate why First Take often sticks to the NFL and NBA: some of that is about their research on what people want to watch, but some of it is that venturing into MLB or college football waters often goes poorly for them. This was the latest example of that.