Truly American Experience: The Rose Bowl

I will be spending four months in Europe this spring for work with the majority of the time in Florence, Italy but also nearly a month in Austria. So the blog will include a lot more photos and stories about Italy than fits the name of the blog. But before I left the U.S., I made sure to “pile on” truly American experiences and that included in addition to the Rose Parade (see previous post) the Rose Bowl itself – because what is more American than football at the oldest bowl game in the U.S.?!?

Iowa Marching Band before the Game

Iowa Marching Band during Break

The Rose Bowl – also called the “Granddaddy of them all” – is the oldest of all college football bowl games (playoffs). In 1902, the first post-season game in the nation took place here between Stanford and Michigan (Michigan won 49-0). The Rose Bowl included many firsts – for example, the first transcontinental radio broadcast of a sporting event in 1927 as well as the first national telecast of a college football game in 1952.

Iowa Hawkeyes Fans – Love the Hat!

The current Rose Bowl Stadium was built in 1922 and is listed as a National Historic Landmark because of its importance in American culture and history.

Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA – 2016

Even though the team we rooted for (Iowa) was beaten badly in this year’s game against Stanford (45-16), the Iowa fans kept up the good mood and atmosphere in the stands and made this a great experience as my last big event to visit before I go to Europe (there were some grumblings and complaints about the Stanford band making fun of Iowa and sticking to stereotypes that showed very little knowledge of Iowa and made me question the maturity and creativity of Standford students, but that is a different story – read more here if you are interested: Article on Stanford Band). Although I am excited and curious about Italy and look forward to spending some time in Austria, I am a little sad that I have to miss the Super Bowl experience in San Francisco this year (it is not that often that the event is that close to where I live). Next time, I will be posting from Florence. Ci vediamo!