If you were following me on twitter this morning, you probably saw this:
Make no mistake, I love NFL football; and as a Jets fan, this year was something to look forward to. But I, and many other fans of college football in the Bay area, was willing to sacrifice this year in NFL football for a year of building support for a perennially good college team that gets overshadowed by the deep-rooted NFL Buccaneers. This lockout would have granted the use of Raymond James Stadium to USF for the whole season, and, more importantly, it would have lent USF some filled seats that they have been desperately chasing for the past few years as the program grew.
Think about that for a minute. Raymond James all to ourselves? USF banners and flags outside and throughout the stadium? End zones painted green and gold with "BULLS"? No more stupid white flag with an outlined USF logo at the 50 yard line? That all sounded like exactly what USF needed to break the mold of "just a college team in an NFL city", like many other Big East teams.
All in all, this lockout would probably have been the best thing to happen to not only USF, but the Big East as a whole. While USF and Pitt play in their respective NFL stadiums, Cincinnati and Rutgers also have very nearby NFL fanbases. That combined with Louisville's and Syracuse's shot at a comeback to the league's elite could have proven to be the best attendance year the league has ever seen (sorry, UConn, you don't really apply here).
So the ending of this lockout is bittersweet for fans like myself. And although many people will be going back to just waiting for Sunday to come around to watch some football, there will surely be some fans that appreciate the permanence of college football. So maybe we won't snatch up all the Bucs fans to our games, but we'll likely be seeing some new faces in the stands.
Whenever USF wins, we have had many more fans. 2007 West Virginia was one of the best games ever, and not just out of USF games.
ReplyDeleteThis is irrelevant to this post, but does this blog have an official prediction for the 2011 Big East final standings?
Matt and I have our personal ballots, and we're waiting for a couple other guys from blogs around the Big East to send in theirs so we can get a composite. Don't worry though, it should be out by the end of the week.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to that post.
ReplyDeleteMan, honestly could have card less about the NFL lockout if USF had RayJay to itself. Deep down, I knew it could never be.
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