Friday, January 6, 2012

Brady Quinn -- Will He Play Sunday?


News broke today that former Notre Dame All-American Brady Quinn was trading first team reps today with Tim Tebow as the Denver Broncos prepare for their playoff game against Pittsburgh on Sunday.  Tebow has struggled the last three games and there's speculation that John Fox might have a "quick hook" should Denver's offense get off to a slow start.  Here's the Denver Post story:

LINK:  WILL WE SEE QUINN ON SUNDAY!

Defining Irrelevance -- Bowl Attendance?


I often have to chuckle when I see "media experts" talking about how Notre Dame football is irrelevant -- especially after seeing this USA TODAY story (linked below) about bowl attendance being down this year.  Then you throw in the fact that the Champs Sports Bowl has been around 22 years (without a sell-out) and the first time Notre Dame is in their bowl -- they SELL-OUT in three days!   

It's important to note that Florida State has been in the Champs Sports Bowl before and they didn't sell the place out.

Do you think there might be a few bowl committee meetings, these next couple of weeks, where the conversation is how they might re-structure an agreement -- with their conference affiliations -- that would offer Notre Dame the opportunity to play in their bowl game?

So, if you define irrelevance as "lack of being important" -- which is how the Webster Dictionary defines this term, I offer up this proof of college football programs who are apparently "not important enough" to sell as many tickets as their Bowl had the year before -- thus, they're irrelevant.

JUST A FEW OF THE TEAMS THAT ARE IRRELEVANT:
  • Michigan -- Sugar Bowl ticket sales down (-9,367) from the year before
  • Virginia Tech -- Sugar Bowl ticket sales down (-9,367) from the year before
  • Florida -- Gator Bowl ticket sales down (-7,013) from the year before
  • Ohio State -- Gator Bowl ticket sales down (-7,013) from the year before
  • Oregon -- Rose Bowl ticket sales down (-2,873) from the year before
  • Wisconsin -- Rose Bowl ticket sales down (-2,873) from the year before
  • Georgia -- Outback Bowl ticket sales down (-11,145) from the year before
  • Michigan State -- Outback Bowl ticket sales down (11-145) from the year before

RANKINGS OF BOWL ATTENDANCE -- SO FAR THIS BOWL SEASON:
  1. BCS ROSE BOWL:   91,245 -- capacity is 92,542
  2. CHICK-FIL-A BOWL:  72,919 -- sold out
  3. BCS FIESTA BOWL:  69,927 -- capacity is 78,600
  4. MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL:  68,395 -- capacity is 69,500
  5. CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL:  68,305 -- FIRST SELL OUT EVER 
  6. BCS ORANGE BOWL:  67,563 -- capacity is 75,192
  7. ALAMO BOWL:  65,526 -- capacity is 72,000
  8. BCS SUGAR BOWL:  64,512 -- capacity is 76,468
  9. CAPITAL ONE:  61,351 -- capacity is 65,657
  10. GATOR BOWL:  61,312 -- capacity is 67,246
FYI -- the photo above is of Tuesday night's SUGAR BOWL between Michigan and Virginia Tech -- look at all of the empty seats in the Super Dome.

LINK:  BOWL ATTENDANCE DOWN