My parents were married on Sunday, Jan. 2, 1977. If that seems like an odd day and date to get married, that’s because it is.

They originally thought to get married on New Year’s Day, but then realized one important thing. That was the penultimate day of the college football season. They couldn’t get married on that day because nobody would show up.

For many sports fans, including myself, New Year’s Day is a day to plop down on the couch and watch the finale of the college football season with wall to wall bowl games, including those that would affect the national championship picture.

When I was a kid, I always set the alarm clock to 9:57 a.m. to get up in time for the kickoff of the Outback Bowl. I would flip back and forth between that game and the Cotton Bowl.

At noon the Florida Citrus and Gator bowls started, which meant more channel surfing.

I got pretty good with the remote control during that day, to the annoyance of my family.

Late afternoon, the Rose Bowl, and sometimes the Fiesta Bowl, would kick off. Then that night, the Orange and Sugar bowls would take center stage.

By the end of the day, I was football weary and the remote control was fried.

Now, some great bowl games are still played on New Year’s Day. But even after that unofficial college football holiday, there is still a week before the season ends.

Playing a couple more games on Jan. 2 wouldn’t be bad. There were three games on Jan. 2 this year, including Ole Miss’ upset of Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and Utah’s upset of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

But no, there’s even more. There’s the International Bowl between a MAC team and the fifth place team from the Big East on Jan. 3, then a day off before the Fiesta Bowl between Texas and Ohio State.

On Tuesday, Tulsa and Ball State face off in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Wednesday is another off day before a national champion is finally crowned on Jan. 8.

But after the climactic explosion of pomp and circumstance on Jan. 1, it seems anticlimactic to drag the season out another week, especially when weak bowl games like the International Bowl and GMAC Bowl are sandwiched around BCS games.

This is also another reason to dislike the 11-year-old way of choosing a national champion.

There is no reason to wait a week after Jan. 1 to finish the season.

I know the college football executives and television networks would like to get maximum exposure for their games.

So here is my proposal. Play the traditional New Year’s Day games on New Year’s Day, including two BCS games — maybe the Rose and Orange bowls.

Play two more BCS games Jan. 2, one in the afternoon and one at night. Then play the BCS Championship Game on Jan. 3.

This way, there are no bowl games that belong on Dec. 21 (I’m looking at you GMAC Bowl) stuck in between the BCS games, and the season is not dragged on for a week.

And this way, me and many other sports fans can continue our New Year’s traditions.

Jeff Edwards is the Sports Editor for The Democrat. He can be reached at sports@natchezdemocrat.com