Por (hoser) on January 04, 2010 (Suggest removal)

Nobody in Toronto will miss this game, there was virtually zero awareness that it was going on this week, and you could tell by the crowd (which was far less than the announced 22,185, and was full of people who’d received free tickets) that there wasn’t much interest at the gate either.

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

Canada is beautiful, and Toronto is beautiful. The game was poorly attended, but the Sun Bowl was full of locals when we went. It’s hard to get Americans to travel in December or January to a place other than the sunny south - look at the Outback Bowl.

I have attended every USF Bowl game EXCEPT this one, because 1. I live in nice warm Florida, 2. It’s really cold in Canada this time of year, 3. It’s not cheap to get there, and 4. It’s tough to travel during the holidays.

Sorry.

Por (Allen) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

1.  The joy of a bowl game is traveling to another city.

2.  Man up.

3.  Yes, it’s a trip, but so was El Paso.

4.  It was not touch at all for me to travel there.

Por (Allen) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

tough

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

Allen, I’m glad your life is devoid of other distractions. I had a huge party at my home with over 40 guests in attendance for New Year’s Eve, I had already travelled twice in December to visit relatives for the holidays and for a my neice’s graduation from University of Cincinnati, and I really didn’t care to watch USF play in a meaningless bowl game in Canada. Oh, and then there’s work. I’m glad you went. We probably saw you on TV, along with the 100 or so other USF fans who went. I had other stuff to be dealing with, and PS it was cold as heck in El Paso, which also sucked. Bowl games for me need to be in vacation destinations from now on. Vent on some other guy who hasn’t been a season ticket holder from day 1.

Por (Allen) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

El Paso wasn’t very cold.

If you traveled twice in December already, then the difficulty of traveling wasn’t a problem, was it?

Glad you are a season ticket holder.  Sounds to me like you just had other plans.  I was just arguing against your reasons.  You are obviously going hold to your position after the fact.

Hope you continue to support the bulls and hopefully we go to a BCS game so it’ll be warm for you.

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

Allen, you are definitely in the minority as far as travelling to Canada for our bowl game. And with NO other plans, I still would not have gone there. Thank you for deciding that I didn’t have any problems travelling around the holidays; you could not be more wrong, but that’s another story for another time. Nobody wanted the International Bowl, except in lieu of NO bowl.

Regarding El Paso, have a look at your pictures. Nobody is in t-shirts; everybody is in sweatshirts, MINIMUM. We were in the shade and it was cold and dry and windy, PLUS we were getting our @ss beat, which made it worse.

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

I made my mind up shortly thereafter that I would not travel (St Pete doesn’t count) to watch the Bulls anymore. Love ‘em, but don’t enjoy the time and expense and inconvenience to watch a loss. Can’t do it anymore, except for something significant. They lose when I travel, so I stay home and avoid being the jinx. How’s that. It worked for the game in Tallahassee this year; I would have liked to have gone, but it was my anniversary, and I couldn’t get the wife to sign off on a football game instead of a trip to wine country. Worked out great for everybody. Watched USF win via TV

Por (Don G) on January 05, 2010 (Suggest removal)

Allen, it’s basic economics w/r/t what Dan was saying. If you feel like you’ll receive something of value for your money, then you’ll go / purchase.  If no significant value for money, then you don’t buy the product.  Once USF can consistently provide a good product that’s worth spending one’s hard earned money, then they’ll attract more supporters to bowl games outside of the “sunny south.”  Until USF plays consistentl football and doesn’t embarrass the fanbase on national tv (Thurs & Frid), then why travel during the holidays away from family and friends and maybe important work? Football is not that important in the big scheme of things, so it’s only a recreational diversion for those who have responsibilities and careers.

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 06, 2010 (Suggest removal)

Here’s and example: we drove to Hattiesburg to see USF against Southern Miss. It was a decent drive, we had fun in quaint little Hattiesburg, we met the mayor, the campus was really pretty, the fans were really friendly before the game, and they were pretty good during the game. Then the sun went down, the wind picked up (we hadn’t prepared for any cold weather so we were in shorts), it got cold, we were losing terribly, and it was a really bad game. THEN we were depressed and had to make that long drive back the next day, which seemed even longer. It was too painful to do again… but…

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 06, 2010 (Suggest removal)

But we did: Louisville. Flew to Cincinnati and drove down to Louisville on a cold windy afternoon, with some family. Watched Ohio State-Michigan while we ate at a restaurant near the stadium. Then we went to the game, the sun went down, the temperatures dropped insanely, the wind picked up, and we watched our guys get drubbed ALL NIGHT LONG. Worst game I ever watched. Horribly long and miserable. USF had no answers all night. Depressed (and embarrassed that I dragged friends and family for what was supposed to be a good football game). Then we had to make the long drive back and the long flight the next day… travelled a thousand miles for THAT. Way too painful. No more! BUT…

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 06, 2010 (Suggest removal)

But we did: El Paso. A big Bowl win and then New Year’s in Mexico! We fly out, visit some wineries (who knew?), take in the sights, hang out with Lee Roy Selmon and Jim Leavitt at dinner and a party, get psyched for the game. Sun Bowl is not full of USF fans, but it IS full of a bunch of locals and others who got free tickets. Then the wind picked up, the game started, it got cold, and we got our @sses beat ALL DAY LONG. The walk across the border to Mexico kinda sucked after that, and the town was packing up anyway. Why? Early night before the fireworks? Turns out there’s a lot of problems with drug lords. Depressed, we fly home… got a nice green & gold Mexican blanket, though

Por (Dan Alatorre) on January 06, 2010 (Suggest removal)

There were others. The Carolina trip was interesting, and we had a good time again at a party with Leavitt. The town did its best to show us a good time, with pep rallies and team bars.

Birmigham, Alabama, where it is apparently required to smoke bad cigarettes indoors during breakfast. God awful place, maybe Hell on Earth. Dirty, cold, ugly, run down. Could not get out of there fast enough.

There were others.

So, I think I’ll call my shots with extreme prejudice from now on when it comes to travelling with my beloved USF Bulls. I believe I’ve earned that priveledge.