I was using I think a different projection that had I think Pitt in the Pinstripe and Louisville in the Military and Syracuse in Fenway. But my main point was if Syracuse doesn’t want to go to Kenmore Square the ACC will try to trade off within the conference. Though I’m not sure the Bronx is that much better as a bowl location. Not getting much of a suntan there either
Thanks for info. My only question is how many people from New England are going to turn out in the cold to see Wake Forest or East Carolina play at a windy Fenway Park. Neither BC nor UMass qualify for bowl games this year, that leaves UConn, and the state's eager fans who are happy to drive to Boston.
I wasnt disagreeing… I think the swap scenarios are definitely in play within a conference pecking order.
Cuse played in Boston last week. Would make sense to go to nyc
Actually I think it was the first or second play from scrimmage. I said to myself, oooh, that is certainly different.
The US Soccer team just won. The men and women just went 3,000 miles away and kicked everyones ass. I just doubled down and made the reservation for 2 nights.
So you're saying there's a chance.
We shouldn't try to get "locked in" to the Fenway Bowl. And If we do them a favor I wouldn't expect "reciprocity" either.
That's potentially the problem. The Fenway Bowl would probably prefer a fan base that booked hotel rooms and spent more than just GameDay in Boston. Just a thought.
I have tickets already, live just outside of Boston, taking my son regardless of who plays. How long we stay, well that is a different story.....
The Fenway Bowl is run by Fenway Sports Group (i.e. Red Sox properties including a NASCAR team, Liverpool, etc.). They care about promoting the brand and will be far more interested in having a good crowd than enriching the local Chamber of Commerce. In fact, when they announced the game the press release specifically listed geographic proximity as a key factor in selecting teams for the game.
There was more to the press release than just geographic proximity as a key factor. I would plan on packing your bags for a longer road trip than that.
Of course there was more and the odds are still stacked against the Huskies. However, I've never seen a bowl press release that explicitly said they wanted teams from the near region. It was probably put in there because a realist knows fans from Florida, GA and the Carolinas are unlikely to visit Boston in large numbers in December so they were pitching for BC, SU or Pitt as the ACC rep. Since that doesn't appear likely (and the AAC has no eligible teams within reasonable geographic proximity), if the bowl recognizes the need for a regional team as a draw that certainly improves the chances of working out a deal.
And the Men's Hockey team got back into the win column as well.
You of course, are looking at it strictly as a fan. If you look at it from a players perspective, would you rather be in Boston or somewhere warm for 5 days as a reward for such a surprising season?
I think most players would prefer to play in a game with a big crowd and excitement over a pseudo vacation with a ho hum game. They’ve worked too hard for this.
That was my feeling about the last bowl. Lackluster crowd. Lackluster feeling. I think Fenway would be pretty rocking with UConn there.
yeah spending that christmas day driving from CT to FL was far from ideal
The Wasabi Bowl is advised by a 16 member Executive Committee which includes:
I don't mind Rice, an academically elite college with a recovering football program, but Texas won't get much of a UConn turnout and Rice football is not much of a draw in Texas compared to the other regional colleges.
Advisory boards don't write checks to underwrite the game. This first-time bowl needs to establish itself before it can worry about being a big revenue generator for outside interests. Which would Fenway and ESPN, the guys investing the most in the game, want more - an impressive turnout at the gate or a few hundred more hotel rooms when they get East Carolina v Louisville in front of 10K-12K fans? Remember also that this is one of the earliest bowls so it's going to be a rush to implemnt travel plans for any schools outside the northeast. As I said, UConn is a longshot for this, but there are very good reasons why a new bowl in the northeast may want a school from this region.