Bowl Game Experience

[SubbaBub]

Other than the result, I thought the school did a nice job putting the tour and game events together. We did our own travel but what I saw looked in line with other big time schools, adjusting for the minor nature of the bowl.

The only nitpicking thing I could find was the lack of ability to purchase ticket protectors or lanyards. The bowl tickets are nice souvenirs.

For those who went, let's hear the good the bad and the wishlists for future bowl trips.

 

[mikedog10]

I did not attend, but will complain about the scheduling. This is in no way on the school. Obviously it's bowl-season and we are lucky to be playing, but the right on top of Christmas is just too hard to attend. For comparison sake, the International Bowl (1/3/2009) was way easier to attend. I just got engaged and have families + in-laws on both sides to make time for, maybe in a few years I'll have paid my dues for a holiday bowl trip...

Kudos to all the fantastic fans that made the trip south to support the team. If the university learns anything from this bowl experience, hopefully they pay attention to the dedicated supporters who traveled to St. Pete and throw a little love their way... maybe free t-shirts or special access to a football event?

 

[Kgun7]

Overall the family and I had a pretty good time! Having a daughter in the marching band made it a little more special ... and I was able to experience things on a little more of a personal level.

#1 - The information shared on this site, and the amount of passionate fans willing to help each other, made the logistics a lot easier to manage. Ryan Phalen's hotel block was a no brainer! Thanks Ryan! Maybe some day I'll get to meet you and buy you a beer!

#2 - Battle of the Bands was very well done. The Marshall Marching Band stayed about 3 hotels away up the beach ... and seeing the sea of green shirts coming toward the UCMB on the beach was pretty cool.

#3 - Ferg's the night before the game was a little less attended than I had hoped. But Ferg's the morning of the game was packed and energetic. I just wished the energy carried over to the game.

For the day after Christmas in a lower tier bowl I would say the product was about as good as could be expected. I would have liked to have seen a better attempt at a game plan (considering they had 3 weeks) ... but overall I had a good time!

UCONN vs Marshall Cupcake eating contest ...

 

[SubbaBub]

I did not attend, but will complain about the scheduling. This is in no way on the school. Obviously it's bowl-season and we are lucky to be playing, but the right on top of Christmas is just too hard to attend. For comparison sake, the International Bowl (1/3/2009) was way easier to attend. I just got engaged and have families + in-laws on both sides to make time for, maybe in a few years I'll have paid my dues for a holiday bowl trip...

Kudos to all the fantastic fans that made the trip south to support the team. If the university learns anything from this bowl experience, hopefully they pay attention to the dedicated supporters who traveled to St. Pete and throw a little love their way... maybe free t-shirts or special access to a football event?

Having to travel or be away on Christmas is tough for some. Though having the game on a long weekend was what made this a no brainer trip for me. The family got together on Christmas Eve and we had a quick Christmas morning to do, before heading for the airport. Family dynamics certainly play here, but for me it was easier than it would have been if the game were mid -week.

The pregame at Ferg's was great. Nice to see Warde and Susan in attendance and hanging out with the families and fans.

The UCMB was all over the place and received a lot of facebook love from the College Matching Bands page. If you haven't seen the video of their trip highlights you should seek it out.

A strong showing of Blue at the game itself. Most of the lower bowl UCONN sections were full although Marshall had slightly more fans at the game. I'd call it 60/40 green.

The locals I ran into all had nice things to say about the game and the school.

 

[Chin Diesel]

A common theme so far is that details matter and creating a good experience external of the game matters. For any sporting event the onfield product can vary and there's not a lot you can do to change it once the game starts.

The before game festivities and ambiance is 100% controllable and can still leave fans anxious to travel again even if the game stunk.

The game is a 3-4 block of time for a 2-4 day trip. Costwise the tickets pale in comparison to airfare, lodging and even food for the trip.

 

[huskypantz]

• Preface - this was bowl #4 for me - previous bowls Detroit, Charlotte and Toronto. Kudos to the guys I met at the Marriott who had attended all bowl games - mostly boneyard lurkers except for @Huskyfanohio. Good to meet a great bunch of uconn fans.
  
• Date/time of the game: This of course is subject to the whim of ESPN, so there is not much we can do about it. If this was a Saturday two days after Christmas, the start time would not have mattered and we would have doubled the attendance of UConn fans. The day after Christmas was tough, and 11am made it even tougher for the fans looking to fly in the morning of the game. Personally, I would have been able to bring my family down if we had a slightly better date.
• Attendance: I thought the crowd was 10% neutral, 45% UConn, 45% Marshall. Their green stands out much more than the UConn blue so it was a little tougher to really parse out sections that weren't specifically UConn or Marshall.
  
• Stadium: It was perfect for this bowl - you wouldn't want this game played in a 65k seat venue. We were at the 20 yard line and the sight lines were fine. Plenty of concessions around, beer was $9-$11. It was almost too bad that we were indoors on such a beautiful day but after watching Temple get poured on in the Boca bowl I did not mind the tradeoff.
  
• Setting/Atmosphere: I missed everything except the day-of-game festivities. I have to say that when it comes to bowl destinations, you can't go wrong with St. Pete. There were multiple airports to choose from depending on your situation, so plenty of flexibility. The weather is perfect this time of year, although it was a little warmer than normal and very humid. They have incredible beaches in Clearwater just up the road and lots of other things to do between St. Pete and Tampa. Ferg's is a large venue and handled the morning mini-block party well. I'd definitely attend again unless we got stuck with the same date/time.

 

[SubbaBub]

ESPN created a bunch of bowl games for the explicit purpose of generating content around Xmas day when there are few other sporting events going in with the exception of the NBA. It gets the G5 to fill these bowls. We need to get used to the idea of games that are not on NYD require a little inconvenience around the holidays.

The B1G fans can count on being in Florida for NYD most years. Everyone else needs to be flexible.

 

[EJHarrington]

I had a great time at Ferg's at the pre-game. Ryan Phalen's hotel was excellent, the crowd was better than I expected and the weather was great. The timing worked out for me because I did not have to miss any work.

All that was lacking is a high octane offense. Oh well, one of these years...

 

[husky8273]

• Attendance: I thought the crowd was 10% neutral, 45% UConn, 45% Marshall. Their green stands out much more than the UConn blue so it was a little tougher to really parse out sections that weren't specifically UConn or Marshall.

what was the announced attendance?

 

[huskymedic]

what was the announced attendance?

14,652

 

[huskyinfl]

Paid for but skipped fergs. Too nice outside. Marshall fans out numbered us by a lot.

I think the st pete bowl people dropped the ball on tickets. Over pricing and not flooding the local market. At halftime when I sink into my depression I had a whole upper deck section to myself to pound $9 beers.

I guess the good part is no one could see me cry. Haha

 

[Srqhusky]

St. Pete bowl was better than I expected , enjoyed Fergs even though I did not do the UCONN pre party but drinks were reasonable and food was decent. Great spot for a block party. Mechanical Bull and all

Enjoyed listening to both bands. Was really surprised of the size of the bands and was great to see them and the cheer squad. Went with wife and friend and both seemed impressed.

The trop really transformed well for a football game. Been there a bunch of times for rays games. Our seats were end zone until the first quarter ( we met sponsors who got us in the scion party deck which was way cool)

Why the after party I was too wasted to accurately remember much of it but I Was glad nobody asked me to ride the bull

 

[BoatShow]

what was the announced attendance?

You can probably count 5 hose neutral fans as UConn

 

[storrsroars]

Other than the result, I thought the school did a nice job putting the tour and game events together. We did our own travel but what I saw looked in line with other big time schools, adjusting for the minor nature of the bowl.

The only nitpicking thing I could find was the lack of ability to purchase ticket protectors or lanyards. The bowl tickets are nice souvenirs.

For those who went, let's hear the good the bad and the wishlists for future bowl trips.

Posting merely as a point of reference to another bowl...

There was no chance of getting to FL for me as Saturday was a big day for my biz. But I did get the wife (double Pitt grad) tix to the Military Bowl for her Christmas present, which was a one-day bus package 7am-midnight, but only had a couple hours to do pre-game activities, although Pitt had a huge tent, loads of food, reasonable drink prices. We got lanyards and protectors, our names were on the tailgate passes, which was a touch I thought was great.

The oddest thing was that security at Navy's stadium was the most lax I've experienced at any sports venue in a decade.

Only a couple of folks pointed out I was wearing UConn gear (hat and fleece) and they tolerated me rooting for the AAC.

My personal highlight was getting to see my first live flyover. Damn, that was cool. It's ridiculous how close those jets are to each other.