hypothetical: bowl bid rejection

[SMU 86]

The problem is not going to Hawaii. The problem is the date. How many people are watching a mid-level bowl game on Christmas Eve night? Doesn't matter what the media stories are when no one is watching.

What SMU fans should realize is that the Hawaii Bowl gets *excellent* TV ratings and will be a better TV showcase than any of the other games SMU could go to except for the LIberty Bowl.

What SMU fans should also realize is that because nothing else is going on then, ESPN spends *days* hyping up the teams that will be playing in the Hawaii Bowl. National visibility for SMU will be FAR greater with the Hawaii Bowl than in any other Bowl SMU could go to (aside from the Liberty Bowl) because ESPN will have stories on SMU in constant repeat mode for the days leading up to the game. I think that the JJ/Hawaii angle would be rehashed on ESPN about 100 times, and feature stories on so many of the players of SMU would bring great visibility to the entire team.

When lots of bowls are going on, ESPN has to split their coverage between the different games. For the Hawaii Bowl, ESPN focuses its coverage on the game for quite some time.

Good info Garret, thanks. Go Mustangs beat Rice.

[Dooby]

If you read the original post, I don't think he was suggesting that we pass on the Hawaii Bowl and opt for no bowl at all.

Regardless, aside from the pain in the tail it will take for many of us to get there, the Hawaii Bowl is a great bowl for us for a number of reasons.

We just have to get it done. Beat Rice.

[Garret]

The problem is not going to Hawaii. The problem is the date. How many people are watching a mid-level bowl game on Christmas Eve night? Doesn't matter what the media stories are when no one is watching.

What SMU fans should realize is that the Hawaii Bowl gets *excellent* TV ratings and will be a better TV showcase than any of the other games SMU could go to except for the LIberty Bowl.

What SMU fans should also realize is that because nothing else is going on then, ESPN spends *days* hyping up the teams that will be playing in the Hawaii Bowl. National visibility for SMU will be FAR greater with the Hawaii Bowl than in any other Bowl SMU could go to (aside from the Liberty Bowl) because ESPN will have stories on SMU in constant repeat mode for the days leading up to the game. I think that the JJ/Hawaii angle would be rehashed on ESPN about 100 times, and feature stories on so many of the players of SMU would bring great visibility to the entire team.

When lots of bowls are going on, ESPN has to split their coverage between the different games. For the Hawaii Bowl, ESPN focuses its coverage on the game for quite some time.

Good info Garret, thanks. Go Mustangs beat Rice.

I just wish that Hawaii was going to be playing SMU...the stadium would be sold out and the media coverage and TV ratings would have been amazing. Given how the WAC bowl situation works (BSU to some big bowl, Idaho to the Humanitarian, etc.), it appears that it will be Nevada or Fresno State in the Hawaii Bowl, with the most likely team being Nevada.

[Longtime]

SMU is in no position to be greedy, and a lot has to happen, but let's stop all this nonsense about the Hawaii Bowl being great publicity for SMU.

It's the freakin' Hawaii Bowl. How much attention will that get in mainstream media? The Morning News will probably send Kate and that's it. Who else in our region will be able to send a writer or TV crew? All the media access will have to be in the weeks leading up to when the team travels to Hawaii, and the local media will have to be begged to show up to get their interviews done a couple of weeks before the game. If we played in a bowl in Texas or Louisiana, most media outlets in the region would send a reporter to do a story on SMU. If we played in a bowl on the mainland, the national outlets would be more likely to send columnists to do a piece on SMU's revival.

Even if ESPN does hype the Hawaii Bowl, that only reaches people who depend on ESPN as their main news source. And I guarantee you ESPN's web page is going to have a lot more stories about whoever is playing in the BCS bowls than the Hawaii Bowl. They're not going to waste a lot of time with little ol' SMU when its the big-time teams and conferences that butter their bread.

But the biggest drawback to the Hawaii Bowl is that SMU's fans won't be able to celebrate at the bowl site. Only a privileged few will get to enjoy the bowl atmosphere in person. This would be a missed opportunity for SMU fans to join together, for closet SMU fans to get on the bandwagon, and for SMU to pry open some wallets for donations.

That said, SMU should be happy to be in any bowl. The extra practice time alone will be beneficial, and there will be stories done regardless about SMU rising from the dead. It's just a less-than perfect scenario that should SMU finally get to a bowl, it will be a bowl that most fans and media can't get to.

[mrydel]

I will be delighted if we get any bowl and that includes Hawaii. I just will not be able to go to Hawaii due to Christmas. Selfishly I say let's just win out, let TU take care of Houston, and go to Memphis. We will go to Hawaii next year when U Hawaii is eligible.

[Dooby]

We are going to get all of the media attention we can handle, I assure you.

Don't worry about the DMN, they are going to send the same # of people regardless of where SMU goes: 1. JJT and Cowlishaw and Grampa Urine can write their columns from home.

Oh, and the Ticket is going to send Rich Phillips and Sean Bass.

I expect Gary Cogill will go from WFAA. Willing to bet he makes it a working vacation.

[White Helmet]

The problem is not going to Hawaii. The problem is the date. How many people are watching a mid-level bowl game on Christmas Eve night? Doesn't matter what the media stories are when no one is watching.

What SMU fans should realize is that the Hawaii Bowl gets *excellent* TV ratings and will be a better TV showcase than any of the other games SMU could go to except for the LIberty Bowl.

What SMU fans should also realize is that because nothing else is going on then, ESPN spends *days* hyping up the teams that will be playing in the Hawaii Bowl. National visibility for SMU will be FAR greater with the Hawaii Bowl than in any other Bowl SMU could go to (aside from the Liberty Bowl) because ESPN will have stories on SMU in constant repeat mode for the days leading up to the game. I think that the JJ/Hawaii angle would be rehashed on ESPN about 100 times, and feature stories on so many of the players of SMU would bring great visibility to the entire team.

When lots of bowls are going on, ESPN has to split their coverage between the different games. For the Hawaii Bowl, ESPN focuses its coverage on the game for quite some time.

I would like to see them dust off the E:60 bit on Rheinebold

[sail420s]

I think Hawaii not playing may be a bonus for us. The game will still have local attention and support for June's return. Just look at the amount of Hawaii fans that now follow SMU football and are frequent contributors to this site. Crowd wise, it will be like a home game for us.

[Longtime]

You're wrong about the DMN, Dooby. If SMU plays in a bowl that's reasonably easy to travel to, you'll get Kate, a columnist and at least one other writer for a sidebar and notes. Maybe more, depending on staff availability, like an Evan Grant to blog witty things about the bowl trip.

The DMN is paying for Kate to travel to all SMU games this year, a major decision considering all their cutbacks everywhere else. They know that an SMU breakthough season is a huge story and they are putting up some dollars to make sure they are on top of it. They will not treat an SMU bowl game like a regular season game.

But sending staffers to Hawaii is a completely different stratosphere, financially. Also logisticaly, since you lose two full days traveling there and back.

However, the problem isn't getting the DMN to cover an SMU bowl game. It's getting the Austin, San Antonio and Houston papers there. It's getting the New York, LA and Chicago papers to send a writer during the practices the week before, maybe a Sports Illustrated writer, too, as well as the various internet outlets. Who is going to spend the bucks to send staffers to Hawaii? Especially at a time of year when people are trying to work in some vacation time?

Sure, they can come to the practices at SMU in the weeks before the team leaves for the islands. But those stories won't have all the color and flavor of the SMU players enjoying a bowl trip for the first time, or June Jones' triumphant return to Hawaii, etc. Instead it will be a lot of dry stories with more talk about the Death Penalty than the bowl experience.

I won't complain about any bowl SMU goes to, I just think it's silly to say the Hawaii Bowl has advantages when there are clear disadvantages. The main advantage is the Hawaii Bowl isn't looking for teams with huge fan bases, because no mainland school is going to bring a lot of people. Perfect for SMU.

But again, we're getting WAY ahead of ourselves. Let's beat the crap out of Rice first.

[ponydawg]

usually that Hawaii Bowl does pretty good in ratings because as Dooby says nothing else is on

Nothing else on, i beg to differ!


And even though this might be the first year SMU goes bowling, I don't think the turnout would be all that great even if it was in FW - I think the same group that traveled to TCU this year would go. I think Hawaii would have more butts in the seats to see June then the Armed forces bowl would have to see SMU.

[BRStang]

One must crawl before one walks; one must walk before one runs.

We are in no position to reject a bowl bid. Given the long history of not bowling, any bowl is a good bowl. If there is any talk about rejecting a bowl, let it be after we've gone to 10 or 15 bowls in a row.

All this bowl talk is troubling to me. We have won 4 games. While the future schedule looks promising, this team, this school, and the fans are in no position to talk bowls until we are eligible and invited, in my humble opinion and with due respect to those who have a differing opinion.

Over the years, we've weird things happen to this team--win games we shouldn't, lose games we shouldn't. We shouldn't take any team for granted.

Let's all calm down, focus on beating Rice and the remaining opponents, and then determine what bowl we'd like to go to. Please.

Beat Rice.

A++

[BRStang]

I think Hawaii not playing may be a bonus for us. The game will still have local attention and support for June's return. Just look at the amount of Hawaii fans that now follow SMU football and are frequent contributors to this site. Crowd wise, it will be like a home game for us.

You know, it's funny you bring this up. I just got back from Hawaii on Monday. On several occasions, I brought up the SMU/June Jones issue with some of the locals (shop owners, waiters, bartenders) and NONE of them seemed to have anything nice to say about SMU. In fact, as soon as I mentioned I went to SMU and the whole JJ thing, every single time the conversation fell flat. I never would have expected that. I actually think we may be persona non grata over there and could be the team everyone roots against at the Hawaii bowl. I don't know.

[Cadillac]

Even if ESPN does hype the Hawaii Bowl, that only reaches people who depend on ESPN as their main news source.

So, in other words boys aged 14-25? I think that's the demographic we're really aiming for here

-CoS

[huskerpony]

I think Hawaii not playing may be a bonus for us. The game will still have local attention and support for June's return. Just look at the amount of Hawaii fans that now follow SMU football and are frequent contributors to this site. Crowd wise, it will be like a home game for us.

You know, it's funny you bring this up. I just got back from Hawaii on Monday. On several occasions, I brought up the SMU/June Jones issue with some of the locals (shop owners, waiters, bartenders) and NONE of them seemed to have anything nice to say about SMU. In fact, as soon as I mentioned I went to SMU and the whole JJ thing, every single time the conversation fell flat. I never would have expected that. I actually think we may be persona non grata over there and could be the team everyone roots against at the Hawaii bowl. I don't know.

I would think that would be the case. I don't think LSU fans are big fans of Nick Saban or that the people of Stillwater would come out in droves to watch Les Miles coach a bowl game.

If June Jones wants to go to Hawaii it is because he thinks it will be best for recruiting or he wants to stick his finger in the eye of the UH administration. (Or he has a giant ego and thinks the fans still love him even though he left, or he just wants a vacation back in the islands.)