HE’S CUTTING THE RUG IN PASADENA THIS YEAR

Craig Ankeney was torn between his duties on the Fiesta Bowl board of directors in Tempe, Ariz., and his desire to watch Arizona State.

Ankeney figured he had done his job 10 years ago, the last time the Sun Devils were in the Rose Bowl, and this time he was going to go to Pasadena.

“My job was to smooth out Jimmy Johnson and his band of rascals,” said Ankeney, referring to the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, in which Johnson protested that Penn State’s locker room was carpeted and Miami’s was not.

The Nittany Lions were using Arizona State’s home locker room and the visiting team’s quarters were not as well appointed.

So Ankeney stayed home and spent New Year’s Eve supervising the installation of carpet in the Miami locker room and placating Johnson.

This time, he took his kids--all Arizona State graduates--to Pasadena, along with their spouses.