Headlines: More Champs Sports Bowl Thoughts

The culmination of a great football season so here are more thoughts about the victory, the fans, and Orlando.


Jeff: After digesting the game, the final score indicated a closer game than it actually was. For the middle 50 minutes of the game BC outscored MSU 24-6, similar to the type of game we had predicted. Agreed?

Brian: Disagree. The final score was a fairly accurate picture of how the two teams played in my opinion. BC left the door open on multiple occasions and generally played like a team who hadn't played in 3+ weeks. On the other side, I wasn't at all impressed with Michigan State. I think if they had a better quarterback and didn't have to suspend their best defensive pass rushers, the game would have been ended differently. Still, the game had the feel of a lot of other BC games this year - where the Eagles play up or play down to the level of competition. A win is a win, and 11 wins is a heck of a season.

Jeff: Well I saw BC dominating the majority of the game. MSU only scored off of great field position.

Brian: Great field position that WE gave them on special teams and offense.


Brian: Official attendance was 46,554, that's pretty good for a Dec. 28th game more than 1,000 miles away from either campus.

Jeff: I'm very happy with the attendance and BC's part in that. At the ACCCG BC made up way less than 20% of the crowd. I estimate 30-40% in Orlando, with 50-60% Michigan State and 5-10% neutral. With that said though, BC fans still need to learn a few things. As Gene has stated and ATLeagle has pleaded on his blog, it's not just about ticket sales, it's about spending money in Orlando. When we went out after the game, there were plenty of BC fans out celebrating. The problem is though, we only knew that from talking to people and recognizing some familiar faces. Most male BC fans went back to their hotel rooms and changed out of their superfan shirts and put on polos and buttondowns. BC WON. Why change? Most of the BC girls kept their superfan gear on so why did all the guys change? So the bartenders and owners on Orange and Church Street probably still think that BC didn't travel a lot of fans. That was disappointing. Be proud of your school. Wear maroon and gold all weekend the next time you travel to an away game. Take notice when Clemson comes to Boston next season. You'll see people in orange Friday night and Sunday, not just at the game.

Brian: Not only should fans wear BC gear throughout the weekend, but also when you are traveling. It might have been because I came down a day early, but there were very few if any BC fans on the plane from NYC. There were way more BC fans visible in airports traveling to the ACC CG.

Orlando

Jeff: I liked the night life in Orlando, did not like the Citrus Bowl and the general unsafe feeling when not in the hotel, game, or in a bar/restaurant. I would go back if we played in the Champs Bowl again, but I would do things differently like stay closer to the resorts rather than downtown Orlando to be close to the stadium. What about you Brian?

Brian: Unless I am going with family, I would stay away from the resorts. They seem very far from the stadium and the downtown nightlife. If I had to do it again, I would have stayed downtown around Orange or Church Streets, tailgated in the hotel for much longer (and less at the game), and checked the Orlando Magic schedule beforehand (since your boy, Jared Dudley and the Charlotte Bobcats were in town Saturday night).

Jeff: We've been to many football games and major college sporting events. One thing you always notice is a large police pressence in and around the venue. Where was the Orlando PD? I mean we saw one or two cops sure, but not a single one around the parking lot (by the way we were in lot A very close to the stadium) or just walking around the stadium. Anyone who has ever been to a game in the Citrus Bowl knows what I now know which is it is located in a bad part of town, obviously the Orlando PD, Champs Sports and everyone else putting together the game knows this. Why isn't there pressure on the community to have, if anything, an excessive law enforcement presence on hand for the game if they would like to continue such events? If the Champs Sports Bowl moved to Tampa Bay, or if the ACC did not renew their affiliation, I would not be disappointed.

Brian: The Citrus Bowl is in need of repairs badly. The city has agreed to put $175 million into an expansion plan, but that is extremely curious considering UCF moved out of there and built their own stadium and there is no current tenant for the stadium. Also, I find it extremely odd that Orlando is the only city in the country with two bowl games (Champs Sports and the Capital One Bowl). I would welcome the ACC dropping the Champs Sports bowls from the bowl-affiliation list. I don't think they would move the Champs Sports Bowl to Tampa since the Outback Bowl is played there. I can't think of a warm weather city that doesn't have a bowl (since there are so many bowls), but I'd go out on a limb and say there are 30 other cities that are more deserving of a second bowl than Orlando. Also, you could easily put on a bowl game in San Jose, Portland, or even Indianapolis (RCA Dome) off the top of my head and switch around the conference affiliations to have another ACC tie-in on the eastern seaboard.

Jeff: New Orleans hosts the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and National Championship this year. San Diego host the SD County Credit Union Bowl and the Holiday Bowl. The Phoenix area has the Insight Bowl and the Fiesta (but at two different stadiums). The Dallas area has the Armed Forces Bowl and the Cotton Bowl(also two different stadiums). So Orlando is not the only city. What I would hate about leaving the Champs Sports Bowl is that then there would not be a bowl with an ACC-Big Ten matchup.
Portland? San Jose? Indianapolis? What is that crap? How would that help getting another ACC game on the east coast. The ACC already travels to Boise and San Francisco. Lets not create any more West Coast Bowl games.

Brian: And do you know what New Orleans, San Diego and Phoenix have in common? They are all great cities with better football facilities than Orlando. I would not be sad if they moved around the bowl tie-ins such that we got a Big XII-ACC or one less Big East-ACC matchup, even if it was at the expense of Big Ten-ACC. Big Ten-ACC have basketball. Plus, it's not like Champs Sports/Mazda/MicroPC/Carquest/Blockbuster/Tangerine Bowl is steeped in tradition. Big Ten-ACC have had the bowl-tie in there for 2 years!

Jeff: I just want to see the ACC play each of the other BCS conferences in at least one bowl each year. But to get back to the original topic, Orlando was not the ideal bowl location largely because the Citrus Bowl bowl is a very old stadium in the middle of the slums. But if we played in the same bowl game next year, Brian and I would be back.