Deseret News | Bowl may come to Salt Lake

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Bowl may come to Salt Lake

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Dude | 12:43 a.m. April 18, 2008

Shouldn't it be called the "Ice Bowl"? It is usually pretty cold in December.

RE: Dude | 2:24 a.m. April 18, 2008

I agree! What's the apppeal of attending or playing a game in Northern Utah in the winter? Bad investment, people.

Better yet | 2:38 a.m. April 18, 2008

Let's call it the Jello Bowl.

Comments continue below

Ginger Vitus | 4:29 a.m. April 18, 2008

... or how about the "Rice Bowl" (borrowing from part of the Stadium's name) or the "Jello Bowl" hehe

Sarah Bannerman | 4:35 a.m. April 18, 2008

This may be the dumbest idea the conference has embraced since the Mtn/CSTV/Versus black hole TV deal. The MWC gets no credit for playing WAC teams (and vice versa). If we lose to a WAC team we are ridiculed, if we win there is a collective yawn and rolling of the eyes in the eastern U.S. The MWC should enter no more bowl arrangements with anyone outside of the BCS conferences. It is better to play a Pac10 or BigTen 7th or 8th place team than to play a WAC 2nd or 3rd team. As someone on CougarBoard wrote yesterday, the only place this idea should go is the tidy bowl.

Weak | 4:41 a.m. April 18, 2008

This is not what the the MWC needs if it has any hope of establishing better credibility. While there are always a handful of great WAC teams, there is no matchup in these two conferences that would be worth sitting in the freezing cold to watch play.

2nd comment | 5:21 a.m. April 18, 2008

MWC vs. WAC. I can't decide which I'd like to see less. Can't wait for this one...

amen dude! | 6:01 a.m. April 18, 2008

you are kidding right??? is this story true? a bowl game in utah in december....i love football but won't pay to see two crappy mid level teams from an average mid major conference battle it out in cold december weather....do we really need another bowl game?

Boise Coug | 6:17 a.m. April 18, 2008

That stadium isnt big enough to hold all the BYU fans, its like a high school field.

No Need | 6:18 a.m. April 18, 2008

If only seven bowl eligible (read 6-6) teams were left out last season, then no new bowls are needed at this time.

Dude is right | 6:24 a.m. April 18, 2008

This is Thompson's brain-child. The same Thompson who intelligently devised the plan that brought us "the mtn" network with its billions of viewers. What he fails to recognize is that football fans appreciate a chance to go someplace WARM to watch a bowl game. Kill this proposal before any money gets senselessly flushed.

Frigid | 6:27 a.m. April 18, 2008

As a football fan and loyal Ute, I cannot imagine paying money at that time of year to see even my Utes play. This is a money loser any way you cut it. The bowl dies a couple of years after it starts because of low attendance.

parkcity | 6:55 a.m. April 18, 2008

i guess mwc stands for 'anything to make a buck.' so i get to sit outside in december in salt lake and watch a 6-6 wyoming team play some 6-6 wac team? awesome! who is paying who for this anyway, do i have to pay for a ticket, or do they pay me to watch it?

parkcity | 7:03 a.m. April 18, 2008

this is such a bad idea that even the mtn channel doesn't want any part of it

this is a joke | 7:01 a.m. April 18, 2008

you got to be kidding me this is one of the worst ideas ever. the stadium is a joke. and this bowl game is. but i guess they will be able to sell it out every year as it is so small. I guess boise state fans better get there tickts before it sell out to all the byu fans

Bad idea | 7:10 a.m. April 18, 2008

I also agree that Salt Lake in December isn't a place where I want to go watch football, but it might be nice for some fans who are also skiers and want to make a bowl/ski trip out of it. I wonder what the attendance is like at the bowl up in Boise?

Weak | 7:12 a.m. April 18, 2008

Is it possible for Thompson to stop negotiating with the worst bowls in the country? The MWC has the worst bowl agreements, to go along with the wonderful TV deal has he been nominated yet for commissioner of the year yet? It seems somewhat logical to try and do business with the bigger schools, but apparently he has his own agenda.

Packer Bowl | 7:14 a.m. April 18, 2008

Hey the Packers play in ice all teh time and sell out every game

qel | 7:23 a.m. April 18, 2008

If MWC fans won't go to Denver in March to see basketball played indoors, why would they attend a football game played outdoors in December in Utah? HELLOOOOOOO, McccccFFFFLLLLLYYYYY!!!!

SLC in December? | 7:26 a.m. April 18, 2008

Are you kidding me? At least this is something Ute and Cougar fans can actually agree on, this is a really, really bad idea. College football already has at least a dozen too many bowls. I'm sure people would love to come to SLC in December to watch two mediocre teams from the WAC and MWC stumble to the end of their respective subpar seasons. The idea to have a bowl here in DC in Nationals Park is equally bad.

BYUCAL | 7:31 a.m. April 18, 2008

We need another Bowl, maybe they can add an extra one in Nome, Alaska as well. The MWC does not need to tie itself to another bowl outside the ones they have now but hey its the people that brought us the great Mtn TV deal.

Re: Frigid | 7:38 a.m. April 18, 2008

Don't worry, most Utah fans don't pay money to see their Utes play even in September. This Bowl game would have better attendence then all of your home games excluding the BYU game.

Charisol | 7:40 a.m. April 18, 2008

As I recall the Bowl Eligible rule was made to keep really bad (read 5-7) teams out of bowls. Now it's come to mean if your a reallyl bad (read 6-6) team you deserve a bowl. What a crock!

what a joke | 7:44 a.m. April 18, 2008

We have a crumy conference in the MWC, and even worse bowl contracts. Now somebody wants a bowl game in SLC? This is absolutely absurd. Somebody get a clue!

Huh? | 7:46 a.m. April 18, 2008

Are you kidding, another crappy bowl to award a team for mediocre play. What are they thinking?

Dutchman | 7:47 a.m. April 18, 2008

If they build a retractable roof for the stadium, maybe. I went to a basketball game at the Huntsman Center on the Saturday that the junior college teams were having their bowl game in December. I passed Rice-Eccles while it was snowing. The field was covered with ice and the fans did not look too comfortable. To Boise Coug: Another coug has to slam something which is why the majority of fans everywhere hate BYU fans. I'll take Rice-Eccles any day over that dump of a stadium in Boise with the blue carpet. For sight lines and fan comfort it beats LaVell Edwards stadium by a mile.

coug fan | 7:49 a.m. April 18, 2008

This is great, since Utah can't win the MWC Conf and go to Vegas, they can stay in SLC, and play in a third tier bowl in their own stadium, this plan is perfect, I am in full support!

JIMI | 7:58 a.m. April 18, 2008

LOL look at all the BYU fans try and make fun of are stadium. lol tipical fans. if its not about byu, then they gota makefun of it.

i think its a good thing. brings money to utah. and puts us on the college football map.

at least we can buy a coke there. lol

to Sarah Bannerman | 7:54 a.m. April 18, 2008

Smart girl. Do ya'll think now that Thompson is a dumb as they come. This isn't field of dreams. If you build it they will come. Not on your life, unless all ticket holders get free room and board and lift tickets in Park City. Oh but there will be NO ticket holders. Reminds me of the SF Bowl. BYU will be 0 and 3 to start the season anyway and will not qualify...

Kwhit | 8:01 a.m. April 18, 2008

Let's call it the "Toliet Bowl". Then our Utes could play in it every year & get flushed.

Brrrrrrrrrr | 8:08 a.m. April 18, 2008

Rice Eccles is a beautiful stadium, but it's cold enough in Nov. I won't be attending any December games.

Ha Ha | 8:04 a.m. April 18, 2008

How about the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce Snow Bowl? If it does snow, cancel the game and give everyone lift tickets.

Go Thompson! | 8:05 a.m. April 18, 2008

Wow, what a fantastic idea! Let's put it on the mtn network so not only will no one want to come to sit and watch the game in the freezing cold but then no one would be able to watch it on TV either!

So if there's a bowl game that no one cares about and no one can see, did it really happen?

I'm still trying to figure out the revenue sources if no one is paying for tickets and no one can see it on TV.

If this idea doesn't get Thompson fired, nothing will. I wish he'd just go back to the Sun Belt conference where he came from with these little ideas of his that keep pushing the MWC more and more into obscurity. Get someone in to run the conference with a tiny amount of vision...please...

I'll go! | 8:09 a.m. April 18, 2008

I'd pay to go watch 6-6 BYU lose to Utah State! The only other positive I can see is that at least it isn't played down in Provo. This would have been a good idea back in the early 90's when Utah always had a hard time getting to six wins.

Second to last place MWC vs. | 8:13 a.m. April 18, 2008

last place WAC team? How exciting!!

Toilert Bowl | 8:15 a.m. April 18, 2008

Nuff Said

Laugh, it has to be a joke! | 8:30 a.m. April 18, 2008

Please squash this idea before the general public is made aware of this crock! The MWC gets laughed at enough without this hair brain idea!!!

If, the MWC really NEEDS to send a 6-6 team to a bowl, give it a name and play it in Las Vegas a couple of weeks before the Pure Vision bowl.

Wake up NCAA | 8:32 a.m. April 18, 2008

We have turned bowl eligible into bowl entitled.

It is riduculous. The MWC didn't have 5 good bowl teams, they had 5 bowl eligible.

zoobs can't spell | 8:27 a.m. April 18, 2008

I see jealous zoobs ranting about Utah because the bowl (a stupid idea - SLC in December) isn't being proposed for Zoogar stadium in Provo. Why do you think you are so hated? It's not because of your teams, it's your arrogant, self-righteous fans.
BTW, 53-34-4 is the overall football record, and it's not in the zoobs' favor.

Re:Re: Frigid 7:38 a.m. | 8:35 a.m. April 18, 2008

Maybe playing in a bowl game like this would give BYU a chance to improve it's worst-in-the-nation all-time bowl game winning percentage.

Pssssst, pssssst being scarcastic, but truthful, here and being amazed at lengths to which some fans go to make themselves pests.

The real tragedy of this story is that the bowl game this silly proposal refers to isn't THAT much different (read: more prestigious) than what the MWC winner is guaranteed now. And, in some wierd ways might be a step in the right direction.

How 'bout a bowl game in a warmer clime pitting the MWC and the WAC champions every year except when one of the teams qualifies for a BCS game (that is until the whole system is revamped to create a real playoff).

Such a bowl game would be far better than what the MWC champion is guaranteed now!

another boise coug | 8:34 a.m. April 18, 2008

yo dutchman, be careful, boise just built a press box that makes rice eccles stadium press box look like a snow cone shack. don't be mad because no utah team can beat boise st. in anything....ever...

sob | 8:41 a.m. April 18, 2008

while it may be true that rice eccles will not hold all the byu fans, it will hold the same amount of byu fans that show up at confernce center south, and hell, at least you can buy a coke.

Anonymous | 8:52 a.m. April 18, 2008

Another excuse for the Utah County brethren to come up to the big city and the 21st century. Let's just save time and call it the BY Bowl!!!

The No Show Bowl | 8:46 a.m. April 18, 2008

Who would come?

Best possible matchup would be a 5th place 6-6 BYU/Utah vs. a 4th place Utah St., both probably repeats of games played earlier in the season.

A mediocre BYU team playing in SLC in mid-December might attract a few thousand fans. Utah doesn't fill their stadium for September games in brilliantly sunny weather. Utah St. doesn't come close to filling Romney stadium, except when Utah and BYU come to town.

They'd better not be planning to charge more than $5 a ticket.

What if there aren't two bowl eligible teams available, are they going to invite a 1-AA team?

San Jose St. vs. N. Arizona?!?!

carter | 8:52 a.m. April 18, 2008

heres the thing you all are missing, for some schools in smaller mid major conferences, actually getting to a bowl game and still being out there for another game is what all the student athletes dream about, just to keep playing. so why not? alot of 6-6 teams are a whole lot better than their record shows, just ask byu how good ucla actually was. ucla had alot of bad breaks or they could have had 8 or 9 wins. smaller schools in the WAC would love to keep playing and they WILL come if their team is invited

prc | 8:50 a.m. April 18, 2008

yikes!!!

James | 8:59 a.m. April 18, 2008

Bad idea. It won't make any money except a minimal windfall for TV rights.
Would a BYU-New Mexico State or Utah-Fresno State game really attract a big crowd in December? No. By the way, the Utah/BYU series is tied 6-6 over the past 12 years...no team seems to be dominating lately, so chill fans..it's just a game.

RE: Zoobs Can't Spell | 9:00 a.m. April 18, 2008

I think the problem is not that BYU fans are arrogant or self-righteous, it's that we are confident in who we are and not afraid to affiliate ourselves with our church. It could be that Yewt fans are just insecure little chidren that feel if their team wins a couple of games they are redeemed. Sorry Yewts, BYU has every reason to feel confident in what they root for.

Martin | 9:07 a.m. April 18, 2008

A bowl game in December at Rice-Eccles? Did anyone catch the bowl game played there last year with Snow College? You couldn't pay me enough to sit through that for 4 hours.

Re: JIMI | 9:07 a.m. April 18, 2008

You must be an English major at the U.

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