From Mike Janela in New York, USA

One of America's greatest sports traditions is "Bowl Season" - that wonderful time each year marking the end of the American college football season end. More than 30 games match some of the nation's best and most prestigious programs in battles to end their years on high notes.

Of all the bowls played, one of the most prestigious is the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which this year sees the No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys take on the No. 4-ranked Stanford Cardinal, as part of the Bowl Championship Series. But while many eyes will turn to the game itself on Jan. 2 in Glendale, Arizona, USA, the spotlight on this game starting shining back on 16 December, when I adjudicated an attempt for the "most people to make an American football field goal in six hours" at the Tostitos Fiesta in the Square celebration.

Field goal uprights.jpg

With temperatures low, winds high, and former football stars in abundance, participants from around the world lined up in the middle of Times Square in New York to attempt their chance at history in the temporary football field assembled by Tostitos.

Requiring 100 different people to successfully make a field goal of at least 20 yards, the Fiesta in the Square saw a total of 181 different participants put one through the uprights and into Guinness World Records lore.

Field goal certificate.jpg

What struck me most while adjudicating the event was the wide range of participation. An event like this truly brought a huge variety of people together, running the gamut from foreigners to locals and football professionals to those who had never even put toe to pigskin before.

Former football stars who attempted (and all converted) field goals included Jim Kelly, Eddie George, Antonio Pierce, Rodney Peete, and Bill and Martin Gramatica. Other participants included visiting tourists from Turkey, Australia, Mexico, and the UK. In total, 965 attempts were made by countless hundreds of people throughout the day, with the aforementioned 181 finding success.

Field goal kick

The teamwork resulted in more than just a Guinness World Records achievement, too. As a result of the final record total, Tostitos donated $200,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters charity. This was aided in part by Big Brothers Big Sisters advocate and entertainment personality Nick Lachey stepping up and drilling a successful field goal of his own.

In all, a great exhibition was put on for sport, for charity, and, of course, for record-breaking history. The Fiesta Bowl itself already has a lot to live up to!