St Petersburg Bowl

[Ucfmikes]

I never want to see us play in that crappy bowl again unless it's against UF, USF, or Florida State and it won't ever be.
After watching it a little on TV today, I would almost rather us go to no bowl game in the future. Is there a worse stadium? The field looks scary on TV.
The stands, the concessions, the common areas. By the way, the attendance was 14,000.

 

[Retnuhrace]

Last year was much better because, for one, it was against NC State. And also, it was a prime time slot with it being the only game on at the time.

 

[mattropolis]

If that's where we end up, then that is where we end up. You don't get a choice. Should we end up there again, you don't have to go.

 

[Ucfmikes]

If that's where we end up, then that is where we end up. You don't get a choice. Should we end up there again, you don't have to go.

True.., I don't have to go and won't. I probably won't have to worry about it as they can't get sponsors and will eventually fold. 14,000 fans says a lot.
Basically nobody gives a crap. Is that a record or close to it?

 

[firm_bizzle]

I can't figure out why they can't afford new turf. A Major League Baseball team plays there and they can't afford turf? I've seen better looking AAA stadiums.

 

[Poolside Knight]

you can't pick a worse venue, it's reverse advertising for St. Pete

 

[Ucfmikes]

you can't pick a worse venue, it's reverse advertising for St. Pete

Yeah.., downtown St Petersburg is actually pretty nice these days.

 

[Nyght Shadow]

The whatever you call it bowl in St. Pete, in my experience, was a complete cluster f*ck. We did the whole UCF thing when we played Rutgers there, and it was the worst money I ever spent. We reserved parking next to the arena. We showed up after dark and got directed down a one lane path towards parking only to find that tailgating had been set up in the lane, with angle parking set both ways opposite each other on the lane. Opposite each other - double parked. It took 15 minutes to reach a parking space down the lane down the lane as people moved their grills, chairs, tables, etc. There were about four portolettes set up outside with about 300 women waiting to use them. So much for tailgating unless you wanted to piss between cars. Then our seats purchased from UCF athletics were slightly above the rafters.

The whole thing was a disorganized, grab-astic disaster of a trip. The NCAA needs to shut it down and move on.

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

The whatever you call it bowl in St. Pete, in my experience, was a complete cluster f*ck. We did the whole UCF thing when we played Rutgers there, and it was the worst money I ever spent. We reserved parking next to the arena. We showed up after dark and got directed down a one lane path towards parking only to find that tailgating had been set up in the lane, with angle parking set both ways opposite each other on the lane. Opposite each other - double parked. It took 15 minutes to reach a parking space down the lane down the lane as people moved their grills, chairs, tables, etc. There were about four portolettes set up outside with about 300 women waiting to use them. So much for tailgating unless you wanted to piss between cars. Then our seats purchased from UCF athletics were slightly above the rafters.

The whole thing was a disorganized, grab-astic disaster of a trip. The NCAA needs to shut it down and move on.

They clearly didn't prepare for the large crowd that year. I'd rather them move thar bowl to tampa

 

[HammerB08]

I was pretty excited last year since we got a chance to go up against an ACC team. We blew the opportunity, but it was better than some of these other matchups with C-USA and MAC teams.

I don't understand why the turf looks that way even during Rays games. It's fake grass for a professional team, shouldn't it look like nice?

 

[mattropolis]

True.., I don't have to go and won't. I probably won't have to worry about it as they can't get sponsors and will eventually fold. 14,000 fans says a lot.
Basically nobody gives a crap. Is that a record or close to it?

I don't understand why they didn't pick or try hard (horse trade) to get USF. Then they would have had decent attendance. Why would most Marshall or Uconn fans want to spend money and travel to see it? I wouldn't travel to, say, Shreeveport or Birmingham to see a 6-6 ucf team play in a crap bowl. I would drive over to Tampa/St. Pete to see us in a crap bowl.

 

[Ucfmikes]

I don't understand why they didn't pick or try hard (horse trade) to get USF. Then they would have had decent attendance. Why would most Marshall or Uconn fans want to spend money and travel to see it? I wouldn't travel to, say, Shreeveport or Birmingham to see a 6-6 ucf team play in a crap bowl. I would drive over to Tampa/St. Pete to see us in a crap bowl.

Good point. I think that we may have had the 2 highest attended games in its history. Honestly, the game is an embarrassment to the NCAA and really should be evaluated. It looks absolutely terrible on TV. There are so many other options.

 

[firm_bizzle]

That bowl needs to have an ACC or a Florida team.

 

[mattropolis]

I can't figure out why they can't afford new turf. A Major League Baseball team plays there and they can't afford turf? I've seen better looking AAA stadiums.

Good point. I think that we may have had the 2 highest attended games in its history. Honestly, the game is an embarrassment to the NCAA and really should be evaluated. It looks absolutely terrible on TV. There are so many other options.

In my opinion, 6-6 and 5-7 teams shouldn't be rewarded with a bowl. They need to get rid of several of them, but I get that it's about $ and not necessarily about competition. That's just the way it is and I don't see that changing in the future. I do think they should make one if these crap bowls a charity bowl with the worst two teams in it. I would bet that would get more viewers than many of the scrub bowls. It would actually mean something for those programs and would be for a good cause (or causes). Those two teams could also use the additional practices

 

[firm_bizzle]

They could play a lot of these bowl games in high school stadiums.

 

[KnightVision82]

Worst all time bowl experience! Horrible venue! Not even a good baseball venue.

 

[Marvelouz]

They should be embarrassed the turf looks that bad. It should be moved to Ray J. Or better yet, maybe the people of Tampa will get what they want.. move the Rays downtown (or something like that).

 

[firm_bizzle]

They should be embarrassed the turf looks that bad. It should be moved to Ray J. Or better yet, maybe the people of Tampa will get what they want.. move the Rays downtown (or something like that).

The Rays are moving to Montreal. They are only waiting until the penalty to get out of the trop goes down. They should be gone at the beginning of next decade.

 

[HammerB08]

The Rays are moving to Montreal. They are only waiting until the penalty to get out of the trop goes down. They should be gone at the beginning of next decade.

ESPN insider has the Rays to the Big 12 by 2017.

I really don't see MLB leaving the 13th largest TV market in the U.S. (and the Rays get outstanding television ratings despite poor attendance at the dump of a stadium http://www.tampabay.com/news/humani...-fans-theyre-just-not-at-the-ballpark/2238062), but they'll surely use Montreal as leverage to get a new park built in Tampa.

 

[firm_bizzle]

ESPN insider has the Rays to the Big 12 by 2017.

I really don't see MLB leaving the 13th largest TV market in the U.S. (and the Rays get outstanding television ratings despite poor attendance at the dump of a stadium http://www.tampabay.com/news/humani...-fans-theyre-just-not-at-the-ballpark/2238062), but they'll surely use Montreal as leverage to get a new park built in Tampa.

They get good ratings because they play in a league with the Yankees and Red Sox. That won't change. They will be more profitable in Montreal. MLB will try central Florida again with a relocation.