NOBCS.net - ESPN Gameday Travel Blog

Dec 1 - San Antonio, TX

2007-12-03T22:22:00.000-06:00

After taking last weekend off for Thanksgiving, I was back on the road. This time, I had my friend Andrew with me. We got into downtown San Antonio to see the Gameday guys set up right in front of the Alamo. This never would have flown at an on-campus site, but the light crowd of a neutral game allowed them to do it. There were clearly more Mizzou fans out for the show than OU fans, and Corso played to the crowd by donning the tiger head and paws at the end of the show.

We had 2 signs up and eventually found our places behind Corso and Herbstreit since they had Chris Fowler's camera aimed too low. I was hoping for a strong showing, because there won't be any more chances to advertise the site on TV after this weekend. Our signs were noticed a lot in the crowd, including by the original Washington State flag guy who came over to meet me. Unfortunately, the San Antonio PD also noticed and took away our signs near the end of the show. This marked the second time that I had a sign taken away, but it didn't affect anything either time.

Andrew and I got tickets to the game Saturday night since they were going for below face value. We came into the Alamodome cheering for Mizzou, since we wanted 3 teams to be in the mix for the title to create some debate. However, after we learned that West Virginia lost (which I called a 100-1 shot earlier in the day), we immediately flip-flopped to cheer for the Sooners. They were well in control at that point anyway, so my head began to race. I really couldn't have drawn up a better scenario myself. I knew that the complaints for a playoff on Monday would be deafening. It looks like my campaign isn't over, it has just begun.

Nov 17 - Ann Arbor, MI

2007-11-18T16:24:00.000-06:00

Michigan-Ohio State was one of those games that I circled at the beginning of the season as a likely Gameday game. Not only does the Big 10 always seem to come down to the winner of this game, but Kirk Herbstreit wouldn't allow the show to go anywhere else. I looked forward to this as an opportunity to not only see the Michigan Campus, but absorb the rivalry game firsthand from inside The Big House.

I flew into Detroit on Friday and took care of the usual errands - picking up a rental car, checking into my hotel, and buying the necessary supplies. I got up at 5:30 AM on Saturday knowing that the set would be packed. Sure enough, I got there before 7:00 to find myself deep in the line. They were also being Nazis about signs and poles, so I had to set up behind the bleachers around the set. Regardless, I was still able to get a decent amount of TV time, so that part of the trip was a success.

My next challenge was to find a cheap ticket to the game. I saw lots of hands raised, so I was really nervous about getting one. After negotiating with a couple of scalpers, I eventually worked a guy down to $150 and bought the ticket. I got inside the stadium midway through the first quarter because anytime you have over 100,000 people going to the same place, you're not going to go anywhere fast.

The stadium was not quite what I expected. The structure isn't nearly as big as the SEC stadiums I have seen. Instead of upper decks, luxury boxes, and concourses, it was one solid mass of people. The seats were so small that I couldn't fit in mine without turning (and I'm 5'6", 155). Despite that and the weather, it was a great experience going to that game.

One difference I noticed is the respect those two fan bases have for their bands. For the SEC schools (with the exception of LSU), the band is just there to make noise. No one really cheers for their band at halftime or marches behind them on the way to the stadium before the game. I was a little disappointed that the OSU band didn't "Dot the I" at halftime, but I guess that's reserved for home games.

The game itself was quite boring with Michigan unable to do anything on offense. You can blame some of that on the weather (35 deg and rainy), but several of the passes that Mario Manningham dropped were inexcusable. While I always prefer Michigan in this rivalry, I also knew that it would help my cause for Ohio State to finish the regular season with one loss. More one-loss teams means more controversy and website hits. Now, where am I going next week?

Nov 10 - Williamstown, MA

2007-11-12T20:48:00.001-06:00

On Monday, I was making all of the arrangements. With Gameday in Athens for the Auburn-Georgia game, I could bring lots of friends up from Atlanta for the show. But they weren't announcing it on Georgia's Athletics page for some reason. I finally found the answer on a message board that evening: they're going to the Williams-Amherst game!

Since I had just traveled to Oregon the weekend before, I wasn't really up for going to New England. However, I found some cheap airfare that got me back to Baton Rouge by Saturday night, so I decided to go for it. One of the things this trip allowed me to do was set foot in Vermont and New Hampshire for the first time. I especially enjoyed my 30 seconds in New Hampshire.

The drive over to the game was beautiful. Williamstown resides in a valley in the Berkshire Mountains. The peak of the fall colors had passed, but there were still plenty of leaves left on the trees. They also got a dusting of snow in the mountains the night before. Just picture a postcard from Vermont and that's pretty much what you get.

The town was about what I expected: older houses, a main street, sidewalks, and the college campus in the center. I parked and walked into the stadium area only to have my pole confiscated. If you have seen the sign on TV, you know that it's like clipping my wings. Fortunately, the fans didn't crowd the stage the way they do at other campuses, so I was able to get a good position. With my job done, I was able to enjoy a little more scenery before I headed out of town.

Nov 3 - Eugene, OR

2007-11-04T13:44:00.000-06:00

I consider myself lucky to have had a pair of ESPN Gameday shows done right in my backyard in Baton Rouge. However, they also doubled up on one of the most distant campuses for me - Oregon. Since it's too far and expensive to bring someone else on the trip, I had to do both of them on my own.

The other downside to having Gameday in Oregon is the start time - 7 AM local. Since I was staying in Portland, I had to get up at 4 AM to drive down to Eugene. Even after doing that, I only arrived about 30 minutes before the show. That meant that I started 12-15 people deep in the crowd (although I later got up to about 3 deep). I still can't get over how many people have shown up before dawn for both of the shows - not just students, but fans in general. People in the SEC think of themselves as the most hardcore fans, but that certainly hasn't been my experience.

Now for the weather. As I drove down I-5, the temperature kept dropping and eventually reached 32 degrees. It was also raining most of the way down there, but it luckily subsided before I got out of the car. As many of you saw on Gameday, the fog was incredible. The stage was set up so that Autzen Stadium would be clearly visible in the background; however, it did not actually appear until late in the show due to the quarter-mile visibility.

I know a lot of this sounds like complaining, but I honestly had an excellent time in Eugene. The Ducks have certainly earned the right to be considered a top program (thanks in large part to Phil Knight).

Trips Before November

2007-10-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

Thanks for checking out the NOBCS.net travel blog! Since I have been traveling to the ESPN Gameday location almost every week to advertise the site, I decided to chronicle my journey. I have also cleared my schedule for the remainder of the season, so I will be at all of the shows from here on out. I will use this first entry to catch you up on what has happened so far.

Sept 8 - We launched the website in conjunction with holding up the sign at the ESPN Gameday in Baton Rouge. I formed my sign-holding routine by standing behind Chris Fowler.

Sept 15 - I traveled to Nebraska with a friend for the Gameday up there. They set the record with 30,000 fans at the show.

Sept 22 - I had a friend cover for me in Tuscaloosa that weekend.

Sept 29 - I flew out to Eugene, OR to hold the sign up on the show. I was exhausted after that one!

Oct 6 - Gameday came back to Baton Rouge, so I made the long (15 minute) drive from my apartment to LSU. I took some of my Georgia Tech friends around to some tailgate parties, including one that served Gator Sausage.

Oct 20 - Two of my Georgia Tech friends drove up to Lexington for the show at Kentucky.

Since I couldn't make it to Penn State, that brings me to this weekend. Stay tuned for my report from Oregon.