Football: N.O. Bowl tickets going well – early start – TV talk – Gift Bags – Alumni Buses

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, December 7, 2012

With less than two weeks remaining before it plays East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl, the most-updated numbers being provided by UL — current as of last Monday — show that the Ragin’ Cajuns have sold more than 14,000 tickets for the Dec. 22 game at the Superdome.

The Cajuns beat San Diego State in last year’s New Orleans Bowl in front of an announced crowd of 42,841, and coach Mark Hudspeth is anticipating an even bigger crowd for 2012.

"I have no doubt that we’re gonna take more than we took last year," Hudspeth said shortly after his Cajuns were extended a second straight invite. "I’d be disappointed if there’s not over 50,000 at this game.

"We’re playing indoors, we’re playing in a great city, we’re playing close to home, and right before Christmas — so there’s a lot of plusses to this bowl for our teams and our fans."

Jay Cicero, president/CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and a member of the New Orleans Bowl’s executive committee, expects to have to open the Superdome’s second deck, as was also the case for last year’s bowl-record crowd.

"I feel pretty confident," Cicero said after extending the bid, "because San Diego State didn’t bring that many last year.

"I feel pretty confident that Louisiana is not only going to match what they did (last) year, but they’re gonna bring more," he added. "I think everyone who made the mistake of staying home in Lafayette "» last year is gonna realize that they’re gonna have a ball in New Orleans, and they really missed out last year."

UL beat San Diego State 32-30 in 2011 on a 50-yard field by Brett Baer as time expired.

Tickets remain available through the UL ticket office for this year’s game, but Thursday’s deadline for priority ordering has passed.

Early start

Last year’s New Orleans Bowl was played at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17, a Saturday — the opening Saturday of bowl season.

This year, the ESPN-televised New Orleans Bowl secured a place on the second Saturday for postseason bowls.

But it wound up with an 11 a.m. kickoff, because — according to Cicero — ESPN decided to move its usual Monday Night Football game off of Christmas and onto Saturday night.

"That basically caused a ripple effect for the bowl games that were on that Saturday," said Cicero, who added that New Orleans Bowl officials nonetheless are "very happy" with their start time.

The only other bowl game this Dec. 22 is the Las Vegas Bowl between Boise State and Washington. It will follow the New Orleans Bowl on ESPN, with the Atlanta playing its MNF game at Detroit on ESPN after that.

The only two bowl games on the first Saturday of the postseason this year is the New Mexico Bowl (Nevada vs. Arizona) and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Utah State vs. Toledo). There is no bowl that night in the slot the New Orleans Bowl occupied that year.

TV talk

ESPN’s broadcast crew for the New Orleans Bowl has Beth Mowins on play-by-play, Joey Galloway with analysis and Quint Kessenich as the sideline reporter.

Mowins — who graduated Lafayette College, not to be confused with a certain university in Lafayette — frequently calls various women’s sports, but also has a regular shift working Saturday-afternoon college football games on ESPN2.

Galloway is the ex-Ohio State receiver who played for Seattle, Dallas, Tampa Bay, New England and Washington during his lengthy NFL career.

Kessenich is a former lacrosse goalkeeper at Johns Hopkins who has worked for ESPN since 1993.

Gift bag

According to sportsbusinessdaily.com, NCAA-approved gifts to players participating in this year’s New Orleans Bowl will include Beats by Dre headphones, a Fossil watch and an Oakley backpack.

Cajun players also received Beats by Dre headphones in 2011.

Bus Trip

A UL Alumni Association bus trip to New Orleans for the New Orleans Bowl will leave Lafayette at 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 22. For more information, call (337) 482-0900