Boxing Day Crimson Tide Roundup

by Nico2.0 on Dec 26, 2008 7:33 AM CST

Here is your Boxing Day edition of the Tide Roundup:

Rivals.com has compiled a list of the gift packs players receive at the various bowl games. According to them the Sugar Bowl puts together one of the best:

Sony Blu-ray player
Sony Walkman digital MP3 player
Custom watch

A lot of other bowls give a greater amount of stuff, but not nearly as cool (e.g. getting a pair of Crocs, a fitted hat and luggage tags for appearing in the BCS title game.) My personal favorite is the custom belt buckle at the Texas Bowl. For whatever reason, the Cotton Bowl is the only bowl that wouldn't disclose the contents of their gift pack before the players actually receive them.

Oh yeah, am I the only one that hates the partnership between Rivals and Yahoo? I could used to sift through the story list for the day and click away to my heart's delight and now there are tons of stories that are inaccessible due to needing a Rivals.com subscription (22 of 45 yesterday required a subscription.) Annoying.

Though it's about 10 days old, don't think I saw Sports Illustrated's All-American team until this morning. It's pretty much the usual suspects, but the placement is different as always. Smith, Caldwell and Cody on the first team. Click the link to check out the rest.

Here's a story from the Salt Lake Tribune about Utah's center Zayne Taylor and his monumental task of stopping Mt. Cody. Taylor had this to say:

"Do I think I'm ready? We're going to find out," said Taylor. "Cody's a great player and they have a great defensive front four. We're going to have to play our best game of the season to be effective against them."

Here's another story on the matchup of the Bama O-Line against the Utah D-Line, but this time from AL.com. This has received a lot of attention on this blog and elsewhere, so read up on it some more. Saban is concerned. And really, how can't you be? You don't go undefeated by accident no matter what conference you're in.

Our guys got to be home for Christmas this year, which was a first for most of them. Surprisingly, they don't travel as a team to New Orleans. Some drive, some fly. Saban, amazingly, doesn't seem terribly concerned about anyone missing their plane or being a bit late. Players are to report to NOLA on Saturday.

If you ordered your tickets from Utah's ticket office and haven't received them yet, fret not. There's an explanation.

Speaking of tickets for this game, I know they're expensive and that we'd all rather be in Miami, but I must say I'm going to be rather disappointed if it isn't a sellout. I just checked Ticketmaster and they're still available through them and Utah didn't sell out their allotment. That means there's probably at least 10K floating around unsold right now and given how close our state is we need to snap those up. The good news, though, for those willing to travel without tickets is that you'll be able to have a field day with scalpers and will be able to name your own price eventually. I managed to get a ticket to the Capital One Bowl (LSU vs. Iowa) a few years ago for about $20-25 (face value of $70), by waiting just before kickoff to begin my negotiations. I wonder how different sales would be if we were playing Texas or Ohio State...

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a few years back when the xbox360 was new

i had a buddy who was the trainer at UT, and in their bowl packet they got a 360 (each) a few games, an ipod video (the touch wasnt out yet) a couple hundred bucks to “eat” on, plus a ton of junk.

Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister!

by comer4tide on Dec 26, 2008 8:44 AM CST reply actions

I just don't understand

How this isn’t against NCAA rules. I know that all the bowls give gift packs but come on, this is some serious stuff. I guess it isn’t against the rules since all the players get one and they are all the same?

by Mattco on Dec 26, 2008 11:54 AM CST reply actions

I'm guessing since...

…it’s not being given my the schools and it’s not an enticement to anything is why it’s okay….in addition to everybody getting the same thing.

RollBamaRoll.com

by Nico2.0 on Dec 26, 2008 12:31 PM CST up reply actions

The gifts

are a perk for earning the bowl invitation. Both teams get the exact same thing and every member of each team gets the same thing. It is completely legal and approved by the NCAA. The players also receive a per diem during the bowl trip (and they also have the option of having their flight to the game paid for or using the airfare money as gas money) and this is also legal.

Illegal gifts are those given, as Nico suggested, to influence a player’s decision of which school to attend or unregulated gifts by inside or outside parties. A booster can’t legally buy or help a player buy a car. Neither can a coach. Nothing can legally be given without NCAA approval.

People find ways around this sort of thing, obviously, but the bowl gift package is a way for the players to receive a small fraction of the money generated by the bowl they helped land their team in without the corruption.

by Bamagrad on Dec 28, 2008 6:35 AM CST up reply actions

Since it's Boxing Day...

…and Nico brought it up, a good excuse to say Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi with a little Friday beefcake of tackling Aussie Rules Football style. As much as I love Australia, I would never take this over American football, especially Crimson Tide football. No Friday Random 10? Here’s a little music from Down Under.

"I hate everything orange"
It's all about Crimson - ROLL TIDE!!!

by bamavicki on Dec 26, 2008 12:11 PM CST reply actions

Good call

Totally forgot about the Random 10 today. I will get right on that…

RollBamaRoll.com

by Nico2.0 on Dec 26, 2008 12:32 PM CST up reply actions

Ticket sales

I have heard two different people thinking of getting RID of their tickets because of the cost of hotels vs driving out after the game. Factoring in the economy, holidays, and this added expense, maybe it isn’t really the opponent that is effecting ticket sales? Apparently, New Orleans is just gouging on the accomodations compared to the other places these people have stayed this season, not to mention the dining is considerably higher already!

by crimsongirl on Dec 26, 2008 3:10 PM CST reply actions

New Orleans is a stink hole town

last year at the sugar bowl i hated every second i was outside the dome. The city is dirty and smells funny. Sorry if i make anyone mad its just my opinion and one reason why i wont be able to make the game, that and some personal stuff. But I really hate NOLA,

Hell, no! A tie is like kissing your sister!

by comer4tide on Dec 26, 2008 3:25 PM CST up reply actions

New Orleans...

…has been struggling to rebuild since Katrina, but it has been rebuilding and improving since then, and since you visited last year. I’m sorry you had a bad experience there last year. I really love NOLA. I really love the Sugar Bowl. I really love this team. And I really love that I’m going to get to see them play their final game together.

If it’s too expensive for anyone to go, I’ve been there, and I hope you get to enjoy a good Bama win on your TV. If it’s not too expensive for you to go, I would like to encourage you to be there. It will be fun. Roll Tide.

by NiceLittleSaturday on Dec 26, 2008 10:31 PM CST up reply actions

What it's all about for me...

…is seeing this special team for the last time. It makes me sad, but yet so proud too. I want to be there to support them and show my appreciation for what they’ve accomplished this year. I would be going no matter who the opponent was, but I think Utah will give us a good game. Undefeated is undefeated and I respect that, but of course I think the TIDE will ROLL. We scored lower level seats in Section 106, 28 rows up from the field for only $115, so I’m very excited. I’ve never been to the Superdome. I also love New Orleans. There are some skanky areas, but they were there before Katrina. I’ve truly NEVER had a bad time in NOLA. The food alone is some of the best in the world. I love the 3fers at happy hour and being able to walk around with a drink. Great music everywhere. It can get crazy there, but any place with a large crowd can get that way. I can’t wait to hit town and party with the most loyal FANS in college football. By damn, WE ARE ALABAMA!!!

"I hate everything orange"
It's all about Crimson - ROLL TIDE!!!

by bamavicki on Dec 26, 2008 11:38 PM CST up reply actions

Price gouging is just...

…part of the story at bowl games it seems. When we went to Shreveport in ’06, most hotels we called were charging well over $150 (before taxes)…and that was at complete dumps. We ended up staying in Ruston about an hour away (our entire hotel was filled with Bama fans) and stayed there for about $65-75.

I know the economy isn’t great, but I just can’t imagine that being enough to stop most Bama fans. I can’t imagine we’d be seeing this scenario if Texas or Ohio State were the opponent. I don’t mean that as any disrespect to Utah at all as they’re certainly a worthy opponent, but they don’t have the “name brand” appeal that the others do.

At least we sold out our official allotment, I was just hoping we’d snap up the rest of them like they were going out of style. This is a BCS bowl after all and it’s not like we’ve been to a ton of them before.

RollBamaRoll.com

by Nico2.0 on Dec 26, 2008 4:21 PM CST up reply actions

Extenuating circumstances

Are what are killing that goal of snapping up those tickets, I believe. One of the ticket holders I am speaking of is a CEO who was telling me of having his yearly Christmas bonus cut—$30K. (He has rec’d this for over 10 yrs. now) Doesn’t really put you in the mood to go blow money after you have just blown all of that money on Christmas believing you were getting that bonus, not to mention talks of uncertain futures and cut-backs.

Not to bring everyone down, but from the things I have heard over the past few days from friends and family, I am impressed that we were able to sell the allotment! It seems that people are having a pretty hard time, and whether it is justified or not, they are in a panic.

by crimsongirl on Dec 26, 2008 6:46 PM CST reply actions

If $30K was his BONUS, then he shoulda had Christmas AND the Bama game taken care of with his take-home pay!

But, as good ole Ross (Ears) Perot once said, “Billionaires have billionaire sized problems.”

I bleed crimson and white...I puke Vol puke orange. RTR

by SugarBowl93 on Dec 27, 2008 9:14 PM CST up reply actions

Guess that all depends...

on what you do with your take home pay! The business is a retail bus, so that bonus is basically a com. that is worked for all year by these upper-mgmt guys. (this is a close relative I am talking about here, so I actually know how much work goes into this). He lives very COMFORTABLY all year, but he also helps quite a few other people with their day-to-day lives as well. Without that bonus, there are bigger problems than most people would assume.

Not for me! I haven’t felt any different this year than I have the past 4 or 5. I guess the opposite end of that is broke people have broke sized problems!

by crimsongirl on Dec 27, 2008 11:15 PM CST up reply actions