COVID-19 Pushes Iconic Rose Bowl Game From Pasadena To Arlington . . . "Notre Dame and Alabama will face off at AT&T Stadium on Friday afternoon.
"Game officials decided to move the Rose Bowl after the state of California denied two requests to allow certain spectators to attend in person, according to a press release.
“The decision to move the game is based on the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Southern California along with the inability to host player and coach guests at any game in California,” the press release states.
. . . "The mayor bemoaned losing the game and its perennial companion, the Tournament of Roses Parade, for the first time since World War II when both were cancelled because the west coast was deemed unsafe after the Pearl Harbor bombing. That year, the game was played in Durham, North Carolina.
“ 'It’s very sad that the parade and the game will not occur in Pasadena this year,” Gordo said. “The people of Pasadena and beyond, including those in college football, should understand clearly that the Rose Bowl Game, contractually, will be played in the Rose Bowl Stadium on Jan. 1 going forward, absent some world pandemic or world war type of conditions." . . .
Rose Bowl move adds spice to California-Texas tug-of-war . . . The California-Texas rivalry has taken two surprising twists: The Rose Bowl will be played near Dallas while the gap between the two state’s jobless rates reached a 14-year low.
"Pasadena’s annual college football classic is taking a pandemic-era detour amid California business limitations so the teams can face off in front of fans. This follows a string of Texas “victories” such as key California corporations relocating their headquarters to the Lone Star State not to mention 297,000 more Californians leaving for Texas than arriving during the past decade.
"Efforts to quell the coronavirus have been one of 2020’s biggest business debates. Critics of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lockdowns and the state’s long-perceived anti-business bias frequently cite low-regulation Texas as a prime example of how governments should handle their economies.
"Take California’s refusal to relax rules so families of the two Rose Bowl teams could watch in person. The college football gods opted to move the New Year’s Day game to a stadium in Arlington, Texas, where up to 16,000 people will be allowed to attend. By the way, Pasadena’s signature Rose Parade has long been canceled due to similar restrictions on crowds." . . .
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