OmahaBound
12-26-2005, 05:27 PM
Fans’ travel rep remains intact
By JOSEPH PERSON Staff Writer
Vic Roof is a true, garnet-bleeding Gamecocks’ fan.
The Lexington resident attended USC in the 1960s. He is a longtime season-ticket holder and traveled to Tampa for each of the Gamecocks’ Outback Bowl trips following the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
But like a lot of USC fans, Roof plans to watch the Independence Bowl on television. Roof, owner of a local boat manufacturing company, could not see driving more than 800 miles for a week in Shreveport, La.
“I just can’t get a lot of excitement for Shreveport,” Roof said recently. “I don’t think the town offers any excitement for us other than the football game.”
After buying an average of 24,000 tickets for the two Outback bowls, USC fans have shown a lukewarm response for Gamecocks’ game Friday against Missouri in the 30th Independence Bowl.
The school had sold 8,227 of its allotted 12,000 tickets through the close of business last week. About 500 of those were purchased by members of USC’s Board of Trustees, who plan to donate their tickets to military members in the Shreveport, La.
“All my friends I’ve talked to aren’t going to the game. I’m surprised we have any crowd at all,” said Roof, who knows of only one couple that is traveling to the bowl.
After initial speculation that USC might receive a bid to the Outback or Peach bowls, many fans admittedly were disappointed to see the Gamecocks’ slip to the Independence, which had the last selection among the SEC’s six bowl-eligible teams. The distance to Shreveport and the city’s landlocked locale (read: no beaches) also prompted many fans to pass on the first bowl game of the Steve Spurrier Era.
Bowl officials say the low turnout will not hurt the reputation of USC fans for being a loyal, dedicated group.
“Personally, I will believe forever that South Carolina, when we invite them that they would always need more tickets than we could potentially give them,” Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan said. “In my estimation, they won’t take a hit from a reputation perspective.”
Missy Setters, the Independence Bowl’s interim executive director, said USC’s ticket sales are on par with the SEC West Division schools that have played in Shreveport in recent years. The Gamecocks are the first SEC East team to receive an Independence bid.
Said Setters: “For a team that’s that far away, for their tickets to be that steady, that’s really good.”
Missouri, which brought about 8,000 fans to the Independence Bowl two years ago, had sold fewer than 3,000 at the end of last week, according to Setters.
Two weeks ago, Spurrier wrote a letter that was e-mailed to USC fans, encouraging them to go to Shreveport or purchase tickets through the school and donate them to military in the area.
“These bowl games around the country, they understand they’re not going to be sellouts because they are at neutral sites and the fans have to come from a lot of different directions,” Spurrier said. “If the bowl game was right here at Williams-Brice (Stadium) I think we probably could sell it out. So location, of course, is very important in these games.”
USC trustee Mike Mungo, who paid $4,000 for 100 tickets to be given away, viewed the purchase as an investment in the Gamecocks’ bowl future.
“It’s a good investment because (Spurrier) is going to win,” Mungo said. “I want us to stay in good with the bowl people. ... I want them to know that we’re good people to do business with, and we will go to every effort to make their event successful.”
Stokan said the Peach Bowl people need no convincing.
“The excitement they have with Steve Spurrier and what they were able to do this year ... it will only get better at South Carolina,” Stokan said. “I don’t see any kind of dip with South Carolina as a bowl team that would travel very, very well.”
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/colleges/university_of_south_carolina/13487801.htm
By JOSEPH PERSON Staff Writer
Vic Roof is a true, garnet-bleeding Gamecocks’ fan.
The Lexington resident attended USC in the 1960s. He is a longtime season-ticket holder and traveled to Tampa for each of the Gamecocks’ Outback Bowl trips following the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
But like a lot of USC fans, Roof plans to watch the Independence Bowl on television. Roof, owner of a local boat manufacturing company, could not see driving more than 800 miles for a week in Shreveport, La.
“I just can’t get a lot of excitement for Shreveport,” Roof said recently. “I don’t think the town offers any excitement for us other than the football game.”
After buying an average of 24,000 tickets for the two Outback bowls, USC fans have shown a lukewarm response for Gamecocks’ game Friday against Missouri in the 30th Independence Bowl.
The school had sold 8,227 of its allotted 12,000 tickets through the close of business last week. About 500 of those were purchased by members of USC’s Board of Trustees, who plan to donate their tickets to military members in the Shreveport, La.
“All my friends I’ve talked to aren’t going to the game. I’m surprised we have any crowd at all,” said Roof, who knows of only one couple that is traveling to the bowl.
After initial speculation that USC might receive a bid to the Outback or Peach bowls, many fans admittedly were disappointed to see the Gamecocks’ slip to the Independence, which had the last selection among the SEC’s six bowl-eligible teams. The distance to Shreveport and the city’s landlocked locale (read: no beaches) also prompted many fans to pass on the first bowl game of the Steve Spurrier Era.
Bowl officials say the low turnout will not hurt the reputation of USC fans for being a loyal, dedicated group.
“Personally, I will believe forever that South Carolina, when we invite them that they would always need more tickets than we could potentially give them,” Peach Bowl president Gary Stokan said. “In my estimation, they won’t take a hit from a reputation perspective.”
Missy Setters, the Independence Bowl’s interim executive director, said USC’s ticket sales are on par with the SEC West Division schools that have played in Shreveport in recent years. The Gamecocks are the first SEC East team to receive an Independence bid.
Said Setters: “For a team that’s that far away, for their tickets to be that steady, that’s really good.”
Missouri, which brought about 8,000 fans to the Independence Bowl two years ago, had sold fewer than 3,000 at the end of last week, according to Setters.
Two weeks ago, Spurrier wrote a letter that was e-mailed to USC fans, encouraging them to go to Shreveport or purchase tickets through the school and donate them to military in the area.
“These bowl games around the country, they understand they’re not going to be sellouts because they are at neutral sites and the fans have to come from a lot of different directions,” Spurrier said. “If the bowl game was right here at Williams-Brice (Stadium) I think we probably could sell it out. So location, of course, is very important in these games.”
USC trustee Mike Mungo, who paid $4,000 for 100 tickets to be given away, viewed the purchase as an investment in the Gamecocks’ bowl future.
“It’s a good investment because (Spurrier) is going to win,” Mungo said. “I want us to stay in good with the bowl people. ... I want them to know that we’re good people to do business with, and we will go to every effort to make their event successful.”
Stokan said the Peach Bowl people need no convincing.
“The excitement they have with Steve Spurrier and what they were able to do this year ... it will only get better at South Carolina,” Stokan said. “I don’t see any kind of dip with South Carolina as a bowl team that would travel very, very well.”
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/colleges/university_of_south_carolina/13487801.htm