Johnson is honored by his Ute teammates

SAN DIEGO — The big activity Wednesday for the Poinsettia Bowl was the luncheon aboard the huge USS Midway Aircraft Carrier.

Approximately 1,500 players, coaches, administrators, boosters, bowl representatives and media were on hand for a luncheon on the famous aircraft carrier that is now a museum on the water.

Both coaches, Kyle Whittingham and Ken Niumatatolo spoke, along with former college and pro coach Lou Holtz, who now works for ESPN and bowl representatives. Holtz entertained the crowd with football stories and also offered some inspirational words for the two teams.

Two players were awarded the "Wishes Come True Most Inspirational Award" at the end of the luncheon. The awards were voted by their teammates for their "sportsmanship, scholarship and leadership" skills.

Utah quarterback Brian Johnson was selected by his teammates for the way he has come back from a knee injury as well as from a shoulder injury this year.

Navy running back Zerbin Singleton was selected as Navy's recipient for overcoming several obstacles in his life to become a top student and key player for the Midshipmen.

ATTENDANCE UP: Poinsettia Bowl officials said Wednesday that close to 47,000 tickets have been sold for tonight's game, which will set a bowl record.

That includes Utah's allotment of 10,000 seats, of which approximately 5,000 have been sold to Ute boosters. The Utes expect to sell a few more, but those that aren't sold will be donated to local charities.

Navy expects to have approximately 35,000 fans on their side, according to spokesman Scott Strasmeier.

Last year's attendance was 40,303, and the year before, when Navy defeated Colorado State, it was 43,629.

ON TV: Most Ute fans will be able to see tonight's game since it will be on EPSN-TV, which is on most cable and satellite systems.

According to USA Today, ESPN gets its highest ratings from bowl games. ESPN televises 23 of the 32 bowl games, and last year five games drew more than 4 percent of U.S. cable households, which tops nearly everything on the network except NFL games and a few other events.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Poinsettia Bowl was the lowest-ranked bowl game in 2005 and the fifth-lowest last year.

BOWL STREAK: Utah has the second-longest bowl winning streak in the nation with six straight wins going back to the 1999 Las Vegas Bowl win over Fresno State.

The only team with a longer bowl winning streak is Boston College, which ironically beat Navy last year in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in North Carolina on a last-second field goal.