I think a college student would rather hit the beach than build a snowman.
I'm sure they would enjoy some fans making the trip, too. Good luck - I root for the MAC during bowl season - but Central is about to lose a ton of money.
Quote:First mistake, flying into Boise. Fly to Denver or Salt Lake and rent a car.
I was talking from a team perspective, not a fan's. Are they going to make them fly to Utah then also rent buses for a 5 hour ride for everyone? Possibility I guess... helluva road trip altogether.
Quote:Second mistake. Passport. You'll have a very hard time getting a passport in two weeks.
I got mine in less than 2 weeks, at about a week. Paid about double though thru secret channels. Met a gal from Canada/Niagra, in Vegas, and wanted to have a second-round of fun with her. I was going to see her the weekend after Labor Day, and I had to scramble starting mid-week right before Labor Day weekend. I had to order forms, have X,Y,Z to go with it -- THEN send it out -- which was on a SATURDAY of Labor Day weekend. I got the passport by Thursday. I'm sure a college is able to do that more fluidly in that time with a mass order and all and not an extra cost really as the average Joe -- but still added hoops and fees, sure.
Quote:Third mistake. Comporable hotels are about three times as much in the Bahamas that week.
Looking on priceline, 2-star hotels done in group-rates can be around $80. Now, packing 2 dudes in some small Motel room probably wouldn't be the best bet. Looking beyond group-rates but just going right into it for a solo traveler -- there's some for under $100 per room. Very few. They jump up. I assume the NCAA/ESPN has reasonable deals set up though where it's not going to cost them $300 a room, though.
Wmu will charter a plane. Not buy tix. Hell we flew back in the dinosaur days. Many times we flew into army or air force bases.
A 2 star nightly rate hotel in the Carribean can be a scary experience. The good hotels are mostly resorts and the packages this time of year are very pricey.
(12-08-2014 11:04 PM)broncofan1 Wrote: I root for the MAC during bowl season - but Central is about to lose a ton of money.
Back when we went to the Texas Bowl, WMU was required to pay for the cost of over 11,000 tickets. We sold less than 1,000 and took a financial hit in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I tried to do a little research tonight into ticket purchases required by some of the current MAC bowl games. I couldn't find any updated information about either the Potato Bowl or the Bahamas Bowl. I stumbled onto this article about the Potato Bowl from a couple of years ago, though:
The article is a little dated, and most of the article is not specifically about the Potato Bowl. The text below, though, comes from the article and is the part that grabbed my attention:
Played on the blue turf on the campus of Boise State, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is one of the earlier bowl games on the postseason FBS schedule. (Two years ago) it featured Toledo and Utah State, and also held out the promise of coverage on ESPN. Out of a school alottment of 4,000 tickets, fans of the Toledo Rockets only purchased 300. Like many bowls, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl requires that the participating schools buy a certain number of tickets for its fans. Unlike most bowls, however, "[Toledo] will not be required to pay for any of 2,000 tickets that go unsold," said Ryan Autullo of the Toledo Blade. That means that the university was only on the hook to buy out 1,700 seats for the game rather than the 4,000 allocated to them, which ranged in price anywhere from $18 per seat to $160 per seat. If the bought-out seats averaged in price for $100, that would mean Toledo would have been required to spend $170,000 of athletics budget money to buy out their allotment of tickets. And the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is actually one of the bowls that doesn't require an extorbitantly large ticket purchase.
(This post was last modified: 12-09-2014 12:44 AM by The Colonel.)
ESPN should really be on the hook for those tickets since the bowl season, heck the football season is now one big made for tv event.
As per the $3300, yes that is a trip for 3, NO AIR FARE, to the bahama's bowl game...was just curious how much it would cost and responded to an ad when WMU was being considered.
I think it could be a good game to watch. CMU had one of the best defenses in the MAC and WKU has a great offense. Rawls might make the difference because it could mean ball control/TOP advantage to CMU. It is a rematch from two years ago. Interestingly CMU was on the upswing at the end of the year that year and WKU was on the downswing at end of that year. This year it is kind of the reverse.
(12-09-2014 11:24 AM)Tommyboy Wrote: Do the terms of Rawls' probation allow for international travel?
Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App
thats a good question...likely the court will give him a limited pass. He has been granted a lot of exceptions that most probationers would not. However, most probationers are not scholarship student athletes. Also, most scholarship student athletes are not probationers.
(12-08-2014 11:04 PM)broncofan1 Wrote: I root for the MAC during bowl season - but Central is about to lose a ton of money.
Back when we went to the Texas Bowl, WMU was required to pay for the cost of over 11,000 tickets. We sold less than 1,000 and took a financial hit in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I tried to do a little research tonight into ticket purchases required by some of the current MAC bowl games. I couldn't find any updated information about either the Potato Bowl or the Bahamas Bowl. I stumbled onto this article about the Potato Bowl from a couple of years ago, though:
The article is a little dated, and most of the article is not specifically about the Potato Bowl. The text below, though, comes from the article and is the part that grabbed my attention:
Played on the blue turf on the campus of Boise State, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is one of the earlier bowl games on the postseason FBS schedule. (Two years ago) it featured Toledo and Utah State, and also held out the promise of coverage on ESPN. Out of a school alottment of 4,000 tickets, fans of the Toledo Rockets only purchased 300. Like many bowls, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl requires that the participating schools buy a certain number of tickets for its fans. Unlike most bowls, however, "[Toledo] will not be required to pay for any of 2,000 tickets that go unsold," said Ryan Autullo of the Toledo Blade. That means that the university was only on the hook to buy out 1,700 seats for the game rather than the 4,000 allocated to them, which ranged in price anywhere from $18 per seat to $160 per seat. If the bought-out seats averaged in price for $100, that would mean Toledo would have been required to spend $170,000 of athletics budget money to buy out their allotment of tickets. And the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is actually one of the bowls that doesn't require an extorbitantly large ticket purchase.
I've heard that this is still true - this bowl does not require a massive ticket commitment from the teams. Excellent news for our cash-strapped department!
So Kolonel, basically Toledo had to only pay for HALF of the tickets allotted to them if they couldn't even sell half.
I think with the Bahamas Bowl, seating only (I believe) 15,000 -- and knowingly out of the country, long flight for people, etc -- the allotted tickets in comparison would be lower, since Blue Grass Stadium seats solidly over 2x more. Knowing it's aimed for mid-majors given all that, I would be hard pressed to believe they'd make them buy 4,000 tickets on top of an expensive trip... I would assume, in comparison, 1,700 - 2,000.
(12-08-2014 04:03 PM)The Colonel Wrote: The unfortunate part, really, for all MAC fans - not just for us or CMU fans - is that none of the MAC bowl games are convenient trips, both in terms of finances and distance, for fans to make. The Alabama bowls and Boca would be a little easier, but still challenging to pull off.
I hope Rutgers/UNC at Ford Field draws peanuts.
I can't see that game drawing well. I doubt either team's fan base will travel well (Rutgers will probably show a little better than UNC), and I can't see many people locally showing any kind of enthusiasm for this matchup. Exactly what the folks in Detroit deserve for dropping the MAC.
I wouldn't be surprised if the MAC office has already looked into this possibility at some point, but it would be great if there was a bowl in Indianapolis that the MAC could tie into. Unlike Detroit, where in December your only real options for the most part are the casinos and the game itself, Indianapolis has a nice downtown scene - lots of bars and restaurants, most of which are closely centralized together and not too far from the stadium.
I do think some MAC fans got tired of Detroit, especially those that made trips to the MACC and then made the return trip a couple weeks later for the bowl. An Indianapolis bowl would be a new, fresh destination for MAC fans conveniently located in the heart of MAC country, where fans of any MAC school could attend relatively easily.
(This post was last modified: 12-09-2014 04:33 PM by The Colonel.)
Quote:I do think some MAC fans got tired of Detroit, especially those that made trips to the MACC and then made the return trip a couple weeks later for the bowl. An Indianapolis bowl would be a new, fresh destination for MAC fans conveniently located in the heart of MAC country, where fans of any MAC school could attend relatively easily.
Well put, I agree. A little further south, not that "Detroit feel" -- would bring more fans by default and be a few degrees warmer in Dec, too.
I'll be really curious to see CMU's game, even if just to look at the turnout.
CMU and WKU won't combine for more than 1,000, tops, so this one's going to entirely depend on local interest.
So the question remains if Bahamian locals are willing to spend $40/ticket to catch a couple no-name colleges playing American football on Christmas Eve. This isn't exactly the English Premier League, or even the NFL, that can draw a crowd wherever they go.
I'll say the attendance does okay. And by "okay" I'm talking 10K-ish. The novelty of it being inaugural might be enough to draw in some spectators, but I don't see this being a Nassau annual holiday tradition for the local folks. I hope it succeeds because it is a MAC affiliated bowl, but this has maybe 2-and-done written all over it.
No band, no cheerleaders, a sparse crowd that is mostly there out of curiosity... that's going to be one quiet game.
If the International Bowl were brought back with a MAC/AAC tie in it would do well. It failed when it got away from bringing in Midwest teams and tried to bring on bottom feeder 6-6 BCS teams with no regional connections, and the alums from those schools showed no interest. It's the same reason the new LCPB will fail. Not many want to drop money on air fare, a two nights in a hotel, and four or five meals to go to Detroit. Gas and a hotel, sure, home the next day, that's pretty attractive.
(12-11-2014 03:32 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote: So the question remains if Bahamian locals are willing to spend $40/ticket to catch a couple no-name colleges playing American football on Christmas Eve.
...or American tourists without a rooting interest in either team who already made plans to go to the Bahamas long ago and decide they're looking for something to do while they are there.
Personally, I'd stick with the sun, sand, and the water, but that's just me.
Quote:I do think some MAC fans got tired of Detroit, especially those that made trips to the MACC and then made the return trip a couple weeks later for the bowl. An Indianapolis bowl would be a new, fresh destination for MAC fans conveniently located in the heart of MAC country, where fans of any MAC school could attend relatively easily.
Well put, I agree. A little further south, not that "Detroit feel" -- would bring more fans by default and be a few degrees warmer in Dec, too.
Yep, Indy is a great town.
Only a couple hours' drive for us and there's a ton of fun stuff to do. Great restaurants, entertainment, and hotels - all within an easily walkable area downtown near the stadium. Would be a great place for a bowl.
(12-11-2014 03:32 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote: I'll be really curious to see CMU's game, even if just to look at the turnout.
CMU and WKU won't combine for more than 1,000, tops, so this one's going to entirely depend on local interest.
So the question remains if Bahamian locals are willing to spend $40/ticket to catch a couple no-name colleges playing American football on Christmas Eve. This isn't exactly the English Premier League, or even the NFL, that can draw a crowd wherever they go.
I'll say the attendance does okay. And by "okay" I'm talking 10K-ish. The novelty of it being inaugural might be enough to draw in some spectators, but I don't see this being a Nassau annual holiday tradition for the local folks. I hope it succeeds because it is a MAC affiliated bowl, but this has maybe 2-and-done written all over it.
No band, no cheerleaders, a sparse crowd that is mostly there out of curiosity... that's going to be one quiet game.
So then this Bowl really isn't about the fan...cause their wont be many there. Lets just have it so that two "okay" teams can play each other and lets spend a ton of money to make that happen.
Only in America!
(12-08-2014 12:37 PM)Chipdip2 Wrote: While I'm not crazy about a bowl in a non-warm weather climate, WMU vs Air Force 5 days before Xmas on a Saturday is MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE for viewing and much easier to attend. The PinStripe Bowl isn't warm either, but it was good enough for Notre Dame.
For what it is worth, the PinStripe Bowl is completely sold out. You can only by the resale tickets on Ticketmaster at this point. Penn State had to have a donation point cut-off for their fans trying to get tickets through them.
/
Slappy Illy is especially interesting today
As you can tell by this video at the 3:53 and 4:50 marks, we've already hit the beach:
