ANAHEIM, Calif. » Wait a second there, I thought Disneyland is where you go AFTER you win.

And after you win it ALL.

But tradition is tradition, especially when it comes to the Rose Bowl.

No one will say the Florida State Seminoles and Oregon Ducks didn’t deserve their day in the sun at the granddaddy of them all of theme parks Saturday.

But, to a man, the players and coaches will all tell you there’s still plenty of work to do. Conference championships are nice, but the Rose Bowl is much less about celebrating accomplishments than it is about taking another step toward the ultimate prize.

And that is even more the case now, since this tradition-steeped, 101-year-old bowl game also serves as a semifinal in determining the national championship.

It’s kind of a strange feeling that there is another game to be played after winning this one. How can the Rose Bowl be a steppingstone? A means to a means to an end?

The most pressure is always in the matchup that leads to the championship game.

Marcus Mariota — heralded for, among other things, his cool under pressure and his extreme level of patience — actually seemed to get just a bit testy with some of the silly questions at what somewhat resembled a press conference at Mickey’s place.

He whiffed on a question about which states have the rose as their official flower. (Don’t ask me, I don’t know either, and I don’t care.)

Oh, well. Maybe Trivial Pursuit or "Jeopardy!" is not in his future.

"Are you going to keep shaking your head every time I answer a question?" Mariota said with a good-natured grin.

Then the same interviewer asked him to complete a poem in his own words: "Roses are red, violets are blue … fill in the blank."

He paused. Then Mariota provided a response of which Marshawn Lynch would be proud. I know I liked it.

"Sorry, I’m not that creative."

A man’s got to know his limitations, right?

There were plenty of other Mickey Mouse questions about roses and everything else except football, and Mariota handled them with as much dignity and grace as possible.

He’d been here before, but as just another dude. A couple of times after soccer tournaments as a kid and as a redshirting freshman three years ago. That was all fun. No pressure. He could be carefree like his favorite Disney character, Goofy. Not all serious like the one his coach, Mark Helfrich, said he most resembles.

Mariota was curious. "What did he say?"

"Doc … the smart one," was the info a reporter relayed.

Meanwhile, Oregon’s Tony Washington completed the "Roses are red, violets are blue …" poem with, "You have a Heisman winner, but we do, too."

At one point, Mariota said "Of course I’m having fun, this is the Happiest Place on Earth."

Later, he conceded that title actually goes to Hawaii, where he got to spend four days post-Heisman with family and friends and people who don’t ask him to complete poems or to disclose his Disney princess crush.

Of course, if things go the way he and the Ducks hope for the next two weeks, on Jan. 12 that happy place will be AT&T Stadium.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.