Por (Jim Johnson) on November 26, 2006 (Suggest removal)

“You’re only guaranteed a BCS berth by finishing among the top three – this was changed from last year when it was top four”
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Brett, The Top 4 is still an automatic selection if the #3 team is a conference champion or Notre Dame.  So if the order is: OSU, UM, UF, and Louisville - the Louisville gets an automatic bid.  However, the chances of Louisville leaping over LSU (let along UCLA and Arkansas winning) are still slim to none.  And Slim is walking out the door.
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Typo: The International Bowl is on January 6th (not 7th).
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The Birmingham Zoo will have a Christmas light special at night… And GQ says it is worth flying to Birmingham just to visit a bar called “Garage”...
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See you in Birmingham!!

Por (Dan Alatorre) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

I hope Birmingham has a nice airport as I fly up for the game and fly out immediately afterward. I’d prefer the gator Bowl, where USF fans will show up en mass, but I have to believe that the first bowl win will come this year of we play a CUSA yeam, so I’ll be there to see it (unless it’s in Toronto)

Por (Donald Ellis) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

From St. Pete originally.  But a fun area in B’ham is the 5-Points area.  Kinda like Ybor City.  For a short trip, see Vulcan, its like the largest metal statue actually made in the U.S., kinda like a the Statue of Liberty.

Por (Shawn Swal) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

The Gator Bowl is totally going to miss out on filling the stands if they don’t pick USF. USF fans should write the offical bowl site and point this fact out. We would fill the stands and filling the stands = money and money is what bowl games are all about, right? I hope the Gator Bowl takes a hard look at USF and decides the mighty dollar is where it is out. The official email for the Gator Bowl is: gba@gatorbowl.com
Let em have it Bulls!

Por (Brett McMurphy) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Jim, Thanks for the Toronto game date. I’ll fix that. And I’ll have to try out the Garage.

Por (Michael Gagliardo) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Garage, is a little overrated much like Notre Dame/and the SEC, but the 5-points little strip in B-ham is good times. Its like Ybor minus the stabbings/stray bullets.

Shawn, I am with you in wanting to go to the Gator Bowl, but WV brought something like 20k fans two years ago when they went to the Gator Bowl, that’s more then we draw on home games.

Por (Matthew Grosz) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

I’d rather USF go to the International Bowl because that would give the Bulls 13 EXTRA practices which can only help the development of the players more.

Por (Brett McMurphy) on November 27, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Michael, hey, I love that line about Notre Dame and SEC - can I steal it? I’ll see you at the Garage and first round is on me. Shawn, you make a good argument about the Gator Bowl, but they would prefer a bigger national name than USF. Don’t take that the wrong way. Also, with West Virginia, you get a team ranked in the top 12/15 that will bring a TON of fans for 4 or 5 days and fill up hotel rooms. USF fans would be more likely to drive up night before game or day of game, cutting down on hotel nights, which is just as big a consideration as filling up the stadium.

Por (Andy Staples) on November 28, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Michael,
I have to respectfully disagree on The Garage. It’s a fantastic place to enjoy a bottle of Hoegaarden after a hard day of covering all the overrated teams in the SEC at the conference’s annual media days.

Por (James Mosteller) on November 28, 2006 (Suggest removal)

For those worried about how to get in and out of Birmingham… just fly out of Atlanta.  It’s only two and a half hours to the stadium from Atlanta. (Assuming normal Atlanta traffic)

And what’s wrong with good Bar-b-Que???

Go Bulls!!!!

Por (Dr. Robert G. Ritter) on November 28, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Watching the process for over 20 years it really comes down to draw and money. The fact is that last year when we went to Charlotte (I was one of the 4,500 who traveld to the game), we did not show well. That’s a fact. These bowls want to fill the stadium with fans. Period. West virgina travels very well. They had a better record, were ranked all year long, and has national following. They shold go to the Gator bowl. Fact is we were fourth in the conference. What irks me is that LSU jumped Louisville, hence we will lose out on getting another BE team inot the BCS and thus lose revenue. That is what we should be focusing on. We need the money this year.

Por (Brian Holbrook) on November 28, 2006 (Suggest removal)

It looks like the Sheraton downtown would be an easy drive to the stadium ... and a short walk to the 5 points entertainment district.  I asked a sales rep of ours what there was to do in Birmingham and I quote “why everything!”

Por (Dean Zuta) on November 28, 2006 (Suggest removal)

For barbeque in B-Ham, I would suggest Jim & Nick’s or Dreamland.  Both are excellent!!
I am a little disappointed in our opponent, East Carolina.  They are 7-5 for the year, and we smacked them the last time we played in 2004.  It is a shame that we can’t get a better opponent.
Oh well.  Go Bulls!!

Por (Yvonne Fyock) on November 28, 2006 (Suggest removal)

It might be a good idea to stop beatin’ up on Birmingham. By the time you get done, no one will show up and USF will have nobody to cheer them to victory. Why would you knock the host town. I have been to Birmingham many times. It is no Atlanta but there are plenty of places to eat and drink and the people are very friendly. What else is there to do after a football game but eat and drink and you can do that in spades in the ‘ham. Stop trying to keep the tickets from being sold and be glad we have a bowl to go to! Why shoot USF in the foot?

Por (Kevin Erskin) on November 30, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Just a note to try and drum up support for an emerging D-1 football power.  Go Bulls!My son Colby Erskin plays for USF, a local Seminole High product and how lucky he and I are that he is there as this team is on the rise. We have a local big-time team that is winning, 2nd consecutive bowl and the next step to move to national football recognition is sold out home games, and “traveling well”. Lets promote the Birmingham Bowl, probably, as great weekend of activities and fill Legions Field with Bulls fans.  Fan base is next step to being the 4th FL. school as recognized football power.  Coach Leavitt has done his part now us fans have to show and show up to do our part to get this national recognition-Go Bulls!

Por (Brett McMurphy) on November 30, 2006 (Suggest removal)

Kevin, that’s a great point. The more fans USF can take to the bowl game will help USF get better bowls in the future. Some bowl officials would argue that how a team travels is more important than any other aspect when selecting a team.

Por (Stephen Blackehart) on November 30, 2006 (Suggest removal)

I can’t figure why USF doesn’t get better attendance at home, especially after so many years of pleading for a team. It seems like 50% of the Bay area population are alumni(!)...where ARE they? The only thing i can figure, is that the community just doesn’t get (yet) what an electric atmosphere college football has. I live about a mile from the Rose Bowl, and I can tell you that on Saturday mornings, it beats anything the NFL has to offer…it’s like having a Super Bowl every week!
I hope that over time, the (Tampa) Bay area will see the light. If this program wants to get to the next level, it’s going to take the best fans in the world to get there.  Fortunately, they’re right there, they just need to see what they’re missing!

Por (Mike Beau) on December 01, 2006 (Suggest removal)

USF still has a way to go to get the recognition it deserves. To answer the question about game attendance,there are too many people in the Bay area who root for the gators,noles or canes because their Daddy did,instead of putting on the Green and Gold that they went to school for. I know guys who refer to themselves as Gators and they never went to school there. They went to USF. This makes me sick. It will take a few years for the new grads that have Bullpride to step up. Also,I wish USF could have hooked up with Miami or FSU this year in a bowl.It would have truly shown how far this program has risen, even if those schools have fallen a little.And a win against one of the so called “Big 3” would have sent recruiting to another level.

Por (Brian Holbrook) on December 02, 2006 (Suggest removal)

We will see what happens when USF gets its first “big win” over one of the big 3 (predicting Miami).  Like most of the bay area sports have learned ... winning changes everything.  If we put together a string of wins and are in contention for the conference title we should see some very full stadiums against Louisville and West Virginia.  I’m not sure how motivated UCF fans will be to drive over next year….