Trading the Alamo for the Gator. Bad or good?

J

justdavidlee

Well-Known Member
If you look at the 2010 Bowl lineup. The Big Ten is basically dropping the Alamo and picking up the Gator Bowl. IMO this is a big mistake. Jax vs SanAntonio. Is there really any comparison? Who decision was it, the Alamo people or the Big tens to end the partnership? FYI I went to the 1983 Gator bowl, I was 11. My dad, two of my uncles and I. All I remember is that was like 25 degrees at kickoff. One of the coldest spells in Florida history as I recall. Who remembers that game?
 
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I remember that game. I remember waiting the whole game for the Hawkeyes to put it together and start moving the ball. Frustrating all around
 
Since the Gator is Jan 1, I think its a push for now...would love to see the Alamo make a step up in payout, and the Big Ten get back in there some day. You can't beat San Antonio. I have not been to Jacksonville, so don't know about it.
 
I haven't been to a bowl game in Jacksonville, but I can tell you from personal experience that San Antonio is just darn perfect as a bowl game destination.

What gives San Antonio the edge in terms of bowl game destination is that the Riverwalk is a common area where all of the fans can hang out and have fun. Tampa would rank second and then Orlando, Miami and for that matter Pasadena would all rank far behind from a venue perspective.

Even with 50K+ people running around in Miami-Dade for the Orange Bowl after the 2002 season, there simply wasn't a common place where you knew everyone else would be. As much as the Rose Bowl is very exciting to think about, should that happen, you have lots of Hawk fans in the LA basin, but there won't be a single place where everyone "hangs out". People will simply be scattered across the entire LA basin while they are there. From that perspective, San Antonio tops them all.

With that said, I also think it's good to mix up the venues at the same time. Looking over the past years, the Hawks have been to the Outback 3 times so I think shaking up the B10 games also has some value. I would like to have seen the B10 keep the Alamo, and perhaps swap the Gator for the Cap One?
 
We didn't drop the Alamo Bowl,they dropped us.They wanted to move up in the pecking order and Big Ten wouldn't let them.I feel we could of moved them above the Capatal 1 Bowl since they won't fix up there stadium and now that the Alamo Bowl is on Jan. 1.
 
GrandpaHawk said:
We didn't drop the Alamo Bowl,they dropped us.They wanted to move up in the pecking order and Big Ten wouldn't let them.I feel we could of moved them above the Capatal 1 Bowl since they won't fix up there stadium and now that the Alamo Bowl is on Jan. 1.
Click to expand...

It was a mutual decision. I don't have all the facts but the issue likely came down to $$$. The Gator and Insights made strong pushes to land the #4/5 Big Ten teams. According to the Barry Alvarez in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Gator and Insight are each paying the Big Ten $3.3M annually. The Alamo Bowl is reportedly paying $3M annually for the Pac 10 #2 team. The Big Ten #4/5 team is almost certainly more attractive to a bowl partner than the Pac 10 #2 team as that Big Ten selection will almost certainly travel well and garner strong TV ratings. The Pac 10 team is more a hit-and-miss.

Could the Alamo Bowl have upped its payout to match the Gator Bowl? Perhaps, but then it would likely have had to lower its Big 12 payout which may have prevented it from getting the Big 12 #3 team.

There were other factors as well besides money. Delaney seems to really like the New Years' Day bowl games, which certainly helped the Gator Bowl. The Big Ten reportedly turned down a much higher payout for the Yankee Bowl ($1.5M+) to go with the Dallas Football Classic ($1.2M) because the latter has better weather and will be played in New Years' Day.
 
Having lived in San Antonio, this decision disappoints me. That city is a terrific setting for a bowl game and the Alamo Bowl was a pretty good match-up for the Big 10 versus Big 12. The mixing of both teams' fans on the Riverwalk was something to behold. I agree that you just don't get that opportunity at other bowl games.
 
Probably good for everyone except the fans of course...for those people that like to have crimes committed against them Jacksonville is a fine destination.

Crime Index:

Jax=1022
SA= 556

And SA has almost twice the pop. of JAX
 
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