The Rather Surprising and Sometimes Cuban History of Holiday Bowl Games

Happy New Year! It is said that the ancient Babylonians were the first to make new year's resolutions, some 4,000 years ago, and I'm sure some of them still haven't gotten around to starting in on fulfilling them. Similarly, in many American households -- mine included -- resolutions related to fitness and consumption tend to officially go into effect on Jan. 2, as we seem to have decided that the holiday season doesn't actually conclude until the New Year's Day football games have wrapped up. In this space, we've previously written about the association between football and the holidays, as well as the exceptionally odd system of American collegiate sport. These topics collide on New Year's Day and the history of the one-off competitions known as "bowls" has some surprising international flair....