Bowling Green on New Years Day.

[Scoop]

nm

[Pistol]

That will be a good way to spend the holiday and probably nurse a hangover. Last year, I made the 3-hour drive north from my place in Cincinnati to watch us lose by a lot in Bowling Green. I drove back through a blizzard that hit out of nowhere about 3 minutes after I left the arena. The one bright spot that night was a player who left for reasons I don't entirely understand, Jon Smith.

We'll have our revenge at home, I'm sure of it.

[Billikenbooster]

That will be a good way to spend the holiday and probably nurse a hangover. Last year, I made the 3-hour drive north from my place in Cincinnati to watch us lose by a lot in Bowling Green. I drove back through a blizzard that hit out of nowhere about 3 minutes after I left the arena. The one bright spot that night was a player who left for reasons I don't entirely understand, Jon Smith.

We'll have our revenge at home, I'm sure of it.

Hope our record at that time will be one to make the sports community want to stand up and notice the Bills at that time, going against the myriad of NCAA bowl games.

mhg

[MB73]

Hope our record at that time will be one to make the sports community want to stand up and notice the Bills at that time, going against the miriad of NCAA bowl games.

mhg

Definitely a bad choice of days to schedule a home game: big bowl games, parties, hangover recoveries, etc. Marketing 101, not.

[Clock_Tower]

Definitely a bad choice of days to schedule a home game: big bowl games, parties, hangover recoveries, etc. Marketing 101, not.

MB. You're right about it being a holiday, parties, and hangovers, etc., though for an middle-age guy like me, this is not such a big factor anymore. As to the bowl games, though, New Years Day is now ruined by the BCS. Often insignificant Rose Bowl game and a few other filler bowl games is what New Years Day has become. This year, New Years Day appears to be on a Saturday so maybe there will be better games on NYD's this year.

See attached. Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl on January 1st. Orange Bowl Jan 3rd. Sugar Bowl Jan 4th and National Title game not until January 10th!! If correct, the top 6 teams will play AFTER January 1st.

http://bcsfootball.org/

[MB73]

MB. You're right about it being a holiday, parties, and hangovers, etc., though for an middle-age guy like me, this is not such a big factor anymore. As to the bowl games, though, New Years Day is now ruined by the BCS. Often insignificant Rose Bowl game and a few other filler bowl games is what New Years Day has become. This year, New Years Day appears to be on a Saturday so maybe there will be better games on NYD's this year.

See attached. Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl on January 1st. Orange Bowl Jan 3rd. Sugar Bowl Jan 4th and National Title game not until January 10th!! If correct, the top 6 teams will play AFTER January 1st.

http://bcsfootball.org/

Sure, but we will have a below average crowd that day, maybe even a poor turnout, depending upon game time: noon or 1pm, forgetaboutit. 7pm, might be better, still will be below average.

[kshoe]

Definitely a bad choice of days to schedule a home game: big bowl games, parties, hangover recoveries, etc. Marketing 101, not.

I will be interested in what time the game is. It is a Saturday so I suspect it will be at night. With the advent of the BCS, New Years Day Football games have become less relevant as there are generally a bunch of games early in the morning from the non-BCS bowls, the Rose Bowl mid-afternoon and the crappiest of the BCS games (generally a Big East and ACC team) that many people could care less about.

I'm not predicting a big turnout because BG isn't actually a sexy name, but I don't think scheduling the game on a Saturday when people have nothing else to do is a bad move at all.

[willie]

Definitely a bad choice of days to schedule a home game: big bowl games, parties, hangover recoveries, etc. Marketing 101, not.

You may be right about most people, but for me I think it's great. I can't think of anything I would rather do on that day then going to a Billiken game.

[Pistol]

I generally do next to nothing on New Year's Day. It should be a Saturday night game but if it's in the afternoon, that's fine too. Here are the college football bowl games up against it, with all times Central:

Dallas Football Classic, 11:00 AM

Outback Bowl, Noon

Capital One Bowl, Noon

Gator Bowl, 12:30

Rose Bowl, 4:00

Fiesta Bowl, 7:30

So we'll either miss part of a few of the dozens of absolutely meaningless bowl games, the last part of the Rose Bowl, or the first part of the Fiesta Bowl. So what? College football is about 100 times less fun to watch than college basketball, and we can watch the latter in person. College basketball games take about two hours, while college football games take damn near four, so you can't miss an entire game unless you walk to Chaifetz from Chesterfield or soemthing.

Plus, as SLU fans, we can't possibly have a dog in the fight for any of these bowl games. If you skip a SLU game to sit at home and watch college football, I have to question your Billiken fanhood. This is a no-brainer.

[billiken_roy]

You may be right about most people, but for me I think it's great. I can't think of anything I would rather do on that day then going to a Billiken game.

i completely agree. i couldnt care less about college football. if it ends up being me and willie and a couple thousand of our best friends instead of a full house so be it. maybe they (the billikens) take care of us to show appreciation that day somehow.

that all said, really surprises me that day was picked. strange.

[brianstl]

If we are winning games like many of us expect to be at that point we will have close to a full house minus the student section.

[brianstl]

i completely agree. i couldnt care less about college football. if it ends up being me and willie and a couple thousand of our best friends instead of a full house so be it. maybe they (the billikens) take care of us to show appreciation that day somehow.

that all said, really surprises me that day was picked. strange.

I don't think it is strange if it is a night game. Saturday night games make sense and people should be recovered from the night before by that point.

[MB73]

I generally do next to nothing on New Year's Day. It should be a Saturday night game but if it's in the afternoon, that's fine too. Here are the college football bowl games up against it, with all times Central:

Dallas Football Classic, 11:00 AM

Outback Bowl, Noon

Capital One Bowl, Noon

Gator Bowl, 12:30

Rose Bowl, 4:00

Fiesta Bowl, 7:30

So we'll either miss part of a few of the dozens of absolutely meaningless bowl games, the last part of the Rose Bowl, or the first part of the Fiesta Bowl. So what? College football is about 100 times less fun to watch than college basketball, and we can watch the latter in person. College basketball games take about two hours, while college football games take damn near four, so you can't miss an entire game unless you walk to Chaifetz from Chesterfield or soemthing.

Plus, as SLU fans, we can't possibly have a dog in the fight for any of these bowl games. If you skip a SLU game to sit at home and watch college football, I have to question your Billiken fanhood. This is a no-brainer.

I didn't say I would not go, but I might give away my tickets, will decide later. A lot of we humans watch NCAA football on the 1st as we load up on ibuprofen: top notch games, intra-conference matchups, many top 7-20 ranked teams involved.

I am saying the BG game will have a below average crowd especially if it is a day game, lots of empty seats, we might get 6,500 instead of previous 3 game average of, say, 8,500, or something like that. Might be best if it is a night game, hangovers gone and only Fiesta Bowl left.

[kshoe]

i completely agree. i couldnt care less about college football. if it ends up being me and willie and a couple thousand of our best friends instead of a full house so be it. maybe they (the billikens) take care of us to show appreciation that day somehow.

that all said, really surprises me that day was picked. strange.

At first glance, I agreed but when I thought about it, it makes a lot of sense. We play in the Cancun tourney ending Dec 24. The players will likely get a couple days off for Christmas so a game mid-week game the 29-30th wouldn't make sense.

The A-10 season has started on the first weekend of January (8-9) the past couple years. If you want a week of preparation for that first game, that eliminates mid-week Jan 4-6. Unless you want the last game prior to conference play to be the Cancun Dec 24 game, you need one the weekend of Dec 31 - Jan 2.

Once you are in that weekend, Saturday makes the most sense. New Year's Eve? Not ideal unless you wanted to get super creative. Sunday the 2nd is a full slate of NFL games (if people are worried about competition). The Blues have evening games on Dec 31 and Jan 2. Why not have the game on a Saturday evening when the only other major sporting event going on is some meaningless BCS game?

I like it.

[Pistol]

At first glance, I agreed but when I thought about it, it makes a lot of sense. We play in the Cancun tourney ending Dec 24. The players will likely get a couple days off for Christmas so a game mid-week game the 29-30th wouldn't make sense.

The A-10 season has started on the first weekend of January (8-9) the past couple years. If you want a week of preparation for that first game, that eliminates mid-week Jan 4-6. Unless you want the last game prior to conference play to be the Cancun Dec 24 game, you need one the weekend of Dec 31 - Jan 2.

Once you are in that weekend, Saturday makes the most sense. New Year's Eve? Not ideal unless you wanted to get super creative. Sunday the 2nd is a full slate of NFL games (if people are worried about competition). The Blues have evening games on Dec 31 and Jan 2. Why not have the game on a Saturday evening when the only other major sporting event going on is some meaningless BCS game?

I like it.

Well said, sir.

[Applause]

[Taj79]

If you are local and not at the game AND claim to be a Billiken fan, well, you're lying. There isn't a game of note the whole bowl season except two ---- the title game and the game your alma mater plays in. If you're from SLU, the football discussion is moot.

Unless the socceer team is involved, and they won't be. Crap -- let's name a student section or something.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Definitely a bad choice of days to schedule a home game: big bowl games, parties, hangover recoveries, etc. Marketing 101, not.

Perhaps there weren't any other mutually available dates.

[ARon]

Sure, but we will have a below average crowd that day, maybe even a poor turnout, depending upon game time: noon or 1pm, forgetaboutit. 7pm, might be better, still will be below average.

Student turnout will be low as it is during the holiday break. As for marketing the game, I don't think it would be that hard if the athletic department used some creativity (good luck there):

"Keep the party going." To tie in to the holiday.

"What would you rather watch? A football exhibition game, or a basketball game that COUNTS."

[MB73]

Perhaps there weren't any other mutually available dates.

That was probably the case... but it might have been a ground ball thru Bill Buckner's legs by SLU athletic dept. Again, about 2,000 < attendance than average of previous three home games.

[MB73]

Student turnout will be low as it is during the holiday break. As for marketing the game, I don't think it would be that hard if the athletic department used some creativity (good luck there):

"Keep the party going." To tie in to the holiday.

"What would you rather watch? A football exhibition game, or a basketball game that COUNTS."

To you, The Rose Bowl is an exhibition game?

[kshoe]

That was probably the case... but it might have been a ground ball thru Bill Buckner's legs by SLU athletic dept. Again, about 2,000 < attendance than average of previous three home games.

Do you actually read other people's posts or do you just form an opinion and refuse to budge off it? For example, I posted this earlier and would be curious as to your thoughts about better days to have played the game.

"At first glance, I agreed but when I thought about it, it makes a lot of sense. We play in the Cancun tourney ending Dec 24. The players will likely get a couple days off for Christmas so a game mid-week game the 29-30th wouldn't make sense.

The A-10 season has started on the first weekend of January (8-9) the past couple years. If you want a week of preparation for that first game, that eliminates mid-week Jan 4-6. Unless you want the last game prior to conference play to be the Cancun Dec 24 game, you need one the weekend of Dec 31 - Jan 2.

Once you are in that weekend, Saturday makes the most sense. New Year's Eve? Not ideal unless you wanted to get super creative. Sunday the 2nd is a full slate of NFL games (if people are worried about competition). The Blues have evening games on Dec 31 and Jan 2. Why not have the game on a Saturday evening when the only other major sporting event going on is some meaningless BCS game?"

So what day would MB73, in all his infinite wisdom, have played the game?

[AGB91]

I think the crowd will be good on New Years Day. During Rich Grawer's tenure the Bill's played on New Year's Day.

If I recall correctly we won but it slips my mind who we played.

As an aside Notre Dame and Lou Holtz played against Major Harris and West Virginia in a Bowl game at the same time.

To all true Billiken fans then as now, know there is really no choice to make.

[kshoe]

That was probably the case... but it might have been a ground ball thru Bill Buckner's legs by SLU athletic dept. Again, about 2,000 < attendance than average of previous three home games.

Out of curiousity I went back and looked at how many college basketball games were played on New Years day last year (a Friday, and not nearly as convenient as a Saturday) and found some interesting results.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard?date=20100101

Looks like the conference that MB73 is dying to join played 5 games on that date! Maybe the MVC let a ground ball through Buckner's legs...

[kevinfootes]

If you are local and not at the game AND claim to be a Billiken fan, well, you're lying. There isn't a game of note the whole bowl season except two ---- the title game and the game your alma mater plays in. If you're from SLU, the football discussion is moot.

Unless the socceer team is involved, and they won't be. Crap -- let's name a student section or something.

New Years day isn't great for a lot of reasons. While not as big as the night before, many people have parties and family commitments on New Years day as well. Not everyone on the board is under 30 The bowl games on that day aren't what they once were, but there are still plenty of parties centered around them. IMO, I'd rather see the game played on Sunday, Jan. 2. The Rams play at Seattle at 3:15. You could easily have a 1 PM tipoff and people could still watch plenty of the Rams. Besides, I seriously doubt the Rams will be in contention once the middle of November comes around (I hope I'm wrong).

As others have mentioned, the combination of a holiday and the having the students gone could lead to about 2-3K fewer tickets sold.

What kind of lockdown do you think RM will have these guys under on New Years eve?

[kevinfootes]

Do you actually read other people's posts or do you just form an opinion and refuse to budge off it? For example, I posted this earlier and would be curious as to your thoughts about better days to have played the game.

"At first glance, I agreed but when I thought about it, it makes a lot of sense. We play in the Cancun tourney ending Dec 24. The players will likely get a couple days off for Christmas so a game mid-week game the 29-30th wouldn't make sense.

The A-10 season has started on the first weekend of January (8-9) the past couple years. If you want a week of preparation for that first game, that eliminates mid-week Jan 4-6. Unless you want the last game prior to conference play to be the Cancun Dec 24 game, you need one the weekend of Dec 31 - Jan 2.

Once you are in that weekend, Saturday makes the most sense. New Year's Eve? Not ideal unless you wanted to get super creative. Sunday the 2nd is a full slate of NFL games (if people are worried about competition). The Blues have evening games on Dec 31 and Jan 2. Why not have the game on a Saturday evening when the only other major sporting event going on is some meaningless BCS game?"

Considering a lot of people have New Years eve as a holiday or at least get to leave work early, a "creative" tipoff like 4 PM might be kind of cool. I hadn't really thought about that.

So what day would MB73, in all his infinite wisdom, have played the game?