COLLEGE FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT / THE BOWL GAMES : A BETTER FINISH

A victory in the Blockbuster Bowl was a nice way for Stanford’s Bill Walsh to end his first season back coaching on the college level. It certainly was better than his first full day on the job, on a recruiting trip.

“I was in Bakersfield, and the fog started to roll into the valley,” Walsh said. “I started walking and knocking on doors because I had lost my way. I didn’t even know what street I was on. I knocked on a door and nobody was home except for a Doberman pinscher. He chased me back to my car. I finally got into the passenger side, and the dog was right behind me. I said to myself: ‘What in the hell am I doing to myself? What am I here for?’ This was just the start.”