Quote:Dadgum It, No. 1 Is Only Number Bowden Wants
MARTIN FENNELLY
Tampa Tribune
Published: Oct 10, 2003


Seventy-three years, 38 seasons and 337 wins later, one number still matters to Bobby Bowden more than any other.
No. 1.

So Saturday is huge.  With a Florida State victory against Miami, Bowden will take great leaps toward a pair of No. 1's.  His Seminoles will vault into the national championship picture and - and - Bowden finally will tie his good friend, Penn State's Joe Paterno, atop the all-time I-A wins chart with 338.

We all cackled before the season when Bowden spoke of a third national title.  "I still think there's one down there,'' he hummed.  This from a man who'd lost nine games in two seasons.

Go back 15 years, and folks would have scoffed just as loudly at the idea of Bowden catching Paterno, or either man catching Bear Bryant. JoePa snared the Bear first.  Bobby followed.  And kept right on hunting for Joe.

"It's like McGwire and Sosa,'' Bowden once cracked.  "The bad news is, I'm Sosa.''

Flash! That's old news.

Paterno could retake the lead with No. 339 if Penn State wins at Purdue later Saturday.  But wins are scarce right now in unHappy Valley.  And then there's Bobby, 5-0, suddenly riding a rocket instead of a rocking chair.

Winners For The Ages
Even so, this is the biggest game the Seminoles have played since losing to Oklahoma in the 2001 Orange Bowl.  It's hard to believe that was just three seasons ago.  It seems longer since FSU inspired real fear.

This is the game for Bowden.  A win, and he has stopped the Miami streak.  A win, and he's back in the title hunt.  A loss, and he might never get this close again.

Then there's the subplot.

Paterno, 76, and Bowden, 73, remain ageless wonders, no matter what anyone says, and everyone has said lots as Paterno's program faltered and Bowden's stumbled.

We've all taken shots at them, some deserved, some not: grumpy old men, chasing refs, lashing media, blind to a changing game, derelict in disciplining kids.  Bowden and Paterno have heard it all.

But here they are, just the same. Just the two of them. Winners for the ages.

Bobby's been chasing JoePa forever.  Paterno passed Bowden in victories Nov. 15, 1969. Thirty-four years ago.

By 1987, Paterno had built a seemingly insurmountable 36-victory advantage.  That's three perfect seasons, or, for you Florida fans, six Ron Zook seasons.

But Bowden was relentless.

Amazing what 14 consecutive 10-win seasons in Tallahassee will do.

"The dadgum thing's out there,'' Bowden once said of the record. "Why wouldn't you want it?''

Race Appears To Be Over
Bobby's suddenly an express train again.  And there's Uncle Joe, he's moving kind of slow, at the junction.  Paterno started the season with a four-game lead but gave what seemed like a concession speech last week.

"Obviously, sure, it'd be nice to put that on my gravestone,'' Paterno said of the record,  "but I like Bobby.  I admire him. ... It would be great to be second.''

As their records and birth dates show, neither guy thinks much of being second and even less about gravestones.  But Bobby will pass Joe, probably for good, probably this month. In truth, the race is over.

Then again, what with projected advances in science, it could go on for decades and decades, with each coach taking turns being unfrozen. President Schwarzenegger, whose father was also president, will honor them in the Rose Garden.

"If I had my way,'' Bowden said,  "he would keep winning and I would, too, and then in about six years, he hangs it up.  And then I go one more year.''

Bowden laughed.

But was he joking?

Second would be great.

First is better.

Dadgum right it is.