The story of one day in the college football postseason, as told through social media.

GAAAMMMMMMEEEEEDDDDDDAYYYYYYYYYY?

— The Solid Verbal (@SolidVerbal) December 29, 2012

It’s the last Saturday of the season. Except for next week’s Compass Bowl. So, last Saturday.

— Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) December 29, 2012

drunj RT @osmattmurschel: Wonder if the @russellathbowl has survived last nights hangover from the game?

— RussellAthleticBowl (@RussellAthBowl) December 29, 2012

Big flakes flying in Yankee Stadium for expected offensive show!! twitter.com/cbfowler/statu…

— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) December 29, 2012

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Why this bowl is not sponsored by Jerry Seinfeld is beyond us. “It’s football! In a baseball stadium! Can you believe this? Laugh! LAUGH, DAMN YOU.” (AP)

The 2012 Pinstripe Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an X’s and O’s breakdown, click through to Gabriel Baumgaertner’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? As we said in 2011: “Last year, football games at Yankee Stadium were a new and much be-hyped thing. This year it’s just a field mashed into a baseball diamond, hype not included. But to be fair, as football games in baseball diamonds go, this still beats that infamously cramped Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley Field, correct? Correct.”

• Where will this game be played? Yankee Stadium, which we’re told is in New York and houses some sort of baseball team when it is not 20 degrees outside.

• When is it on television? Coverage begins at 3:15 p.m. ET on ESPN, with streaming viewing available on WatchESPN, and will feature Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer and Tom Rinaldi. We missed you, Chris Fowler. Never leave us again. Enjoy him while you can; this is the only postseason play-by-play assignment currently listed for Fowler.

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Obie gets to take off the suit (probably), but staging December and January games can be a full-time gig. (AP)

We joked Monday about how we would’ve loved to work for the Fiesta Bowl during the John Junker heyday, because who doesn’t enjoy attending $30,000 birthday parties? But you, gentle readers, may be as surprised to learn that bowl employees work more than four days a year as our own mother was to learn that we work more than four months. While recuperating from the crush of bowl season, Campus Union spoke with bowl worker bees and executive types busy putting bows on their 2011 games while laying the groundwork for the 2012 postseason. Here’s what we learned.

Months of moving parts

Every postseason college football contests maintains a year-round calendar of sorts, though we were surprised on both ends of the spectrum by just how many and how few year-round employees are retained by certain games. (For comparison’s sake: The Outback Bowl employs five year-round staffers; the Music City Bowl has nine, most of whom double up with duties to the Nashville Sports Council; and the Orange Bowl has 30, with plans to bring on an additional nine full-time positions this year to accommodate preparations for hosting the BCS title game.) The timeline varies wildly based on available personnel, resources, the organization’s presence in the community and how the game approaches its own team selection process. The first scout I personally laid eyes on last season was a very nice lady representing the Champs Sports Bowl in Morgantown in Week 3 during LSU-West Virginia. Both squads, of course, would go on to win their conferences and play in BCS bowls, but that early in the season, bowl scouts share the same disadvantage as the rest of us: All they have to go on is preseason rankings and their own prognostications.

Still, for a game like the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which draws from two of the more voluminous conferences, scouting all potentially eligible teams in person in a single season is a daunting task. Volunteer CFA scouts go out in Week 1 to begin assessing various SEC and ACC squads, though the bowl’s selection committee does not convene until November.

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Yep, that's a foul pole. (Icon SMI)

The 2011 Pinstripe Bowl is just days away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Zac Ellis’ game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? Last year, football games at Yankee Stadium were a new and much be-hyped thing. This year it’s just a field mashed into a baseball diamond, hype not included.

• But to be fair, as football games in baseball diamonds go, this is still light-years ahead of that infamously cramped Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley Field in 2010, correct? Correct.

• When is it on television? Kickoff is scheduled for 3:20 p.m. on Friday, December 30. The game will be televised on ESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Designated conference tie-ins for the one year of this bowl’s existence are the Big East, Big 12 and Notre Dame.

• What about this year? We get 8-4 Rutgers versus 6-6 Iowa State.

• Who will call the game? Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer and Tom Rinaldi will bring the action from New York to your living room.

• What on earth is Chris Fowler doing calling a bowl game for two teams with 10 losses between them? Think of ESPN, in this moment, as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls, attempting to make “fetch” happen.

• Who sponsors the game? New Era Cap Company.

• Don’t they make baseball hats? Also other kinds of hats!

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