Today is THE DAY of the Sports World đ for me because its the kickoff for the next month of non-stop â College Football games across the Country and up until this year, just outside of our Country (Bahamas đ§đ¸).
âNassau took center stage each year to kickoff the Bowl đĨŖ season at 11am with five or six more games to follow on Opening Saturday. The difference between five or six in the count is ones view on the Celebration Bowl đĨŖ in Atlanta. The contest played inside the Mercedes Benz Bowl đĨŖ pits two teams from HBCU conferences, making it a slightly different format so most don’t count it amongst the 41.
This year a funny thing happened on the way to Opening Day, in that the Bahamas đ§đ¸ notified ESPN that their Stadium đ wouldn’t be ready in time because of some construction issues.
âThe Bahamas đ§đ¸ economy runs 75% to 80% on tourism. Those numbers come from the locals down here and the game has never drawn well because the teams are only announced a few weeks ahead of time and getting here on rather short notice isn’t cheap. The Stadium đ seats đē less than 20,000 which is plenty big for anything being held here but not that many of the locals are overly excited about the actual Ball game. It will be really Interesting to see if the Bahamas Bowl does actually return ? That’s a question that will be answered next year but this years question is what to do with Western Kentucky and Old Dominion?
âThe day the announcement broke I made a quick short list of U.S. Stadiums that seat less than 20,000 yet have a surplus of Hotel đ¨ rooms available. The campus Stadium đ at UNC CHARLOTTE, the Soccer parks in Frisco, Texas and Orlando, Florida were my Top 3. Because of the dates involved Orlando falls from the list as they host to Cure Bowl đĨŖ this weekend and Texas would generate more travel expenses for both Schools and fan bases. Charlotte is the landing spot and the folks in the Queen đ¸City were given roughly 3 weeks to pull off what normally takes 6 to 9 months of planning. Famous Toastery tells the story of a 10pm email đ§ that was believed to be a hoax, asking them if they would be interested in being the name sponsor?
âThe next problem for ESPN was the 11:00 am spot because as my fellow writer/ friend Chris Graham will tell you, its all about the TV đē $$$$$$$!
âESPN owns almost every Bowl đĨŖ Game outside of the New Years Six and they don’t need people in the stands to sell their advertising spots, they need a product. The next move was to call đ the folks down in Myrtle Beach âą and convince them to move their game up two days to the leadoff spot of 11am instead of a stand alone date on Monday. That swap allowed Charlotte an additional 48 hours of prep time.
âToday’s mission for my writing â responsibilities is get out of the Bahamas đ§đ¸ (possibly for the final time) and get to another Bowl đĨŖ Game today.
âOrlando, New Orleans, Shreveport, Albuquerque and Myrtle Beach âą have already been scratched off the Get to Them All Once List so that leaves the Gronkowski Bowl đĨŖ out in Hollywood…
2,525 miles away but Gronk is hosting the event and is going to be singing the National Anthem ! Everyone loves đ Gronk, right ?
âThe most watchable game today is in Orlando (Cure) with Appalachian State University (8-5) versus Miami of Ohio (11-2) followed closely by home standing UCLA vs Boise State playing in the most Sci-Fi Stadium đ which is named So-Fi. Taylor Swift performed there when she made her film đĨ of her Eras tour. The outside of it looks like it belongs in the Jetsons.
âThe Carroll County Sports scene is dormat today but we are still hoping to work on the Swim đââī¸âresults from yesterday.
The remainder of the 2023-2024 Bowl đĨŖ adventure will be reported on the separate page created on our site here – the link will appear up in the Banner
If one is going to travel somewhere to NOT watch a Bowl Game, Nassau isn’t that bad of a landing spot.
The road less traveled ! 