It's Cold In Boise In December -- I Won't Be There

by Achilles on Nov 17, 2009 1:44 PM PST

I'm nominating Ryan to go to Boise and live blog the Humanitarian Bowl.

According to Stewart Mandel's latest bowl game predictions, our Bruins will face off against Idaho on the Smurf Turf in Boise on December 30.We'll make it because the Mountain West Conference won't have enough bowl-eligible teams.

Maybe Ryan can stay over a couple more nights and live blog New Year's Eve. I bet that's a party.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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I did plan on Boise for New Year's

but scrapped it for Bismarck. North Dakota will be rocking.

Formerly ryebreadraz

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 17, 2009 2:17 PM PST reply actions

The interesting thing ...

is that the MWC is predicted to fall short of having enough bowl eligible teams and that would open the door for us to go to the Humanitarian Bowl.

I’m going to assume that Mandel thinks we’ll be 6-6, the most likely route being a win at home against ASU and a road loss to USC. (I’m not conceding the SC game, I just think that’s the more likely 1-1 than the other way around.)

Going to the HB would be a significant thing. Forget the fact that it’s far away in a cold location against an opponent that isn’t that exciting. The important thing is that it would give us another month to practice. Even if you spent that month doing nothing but working on fundamentals and bringing scout team players up to speed it’s important — it’s meaningful no matter what happens in the game (though it’s much better to be 7-6 than 6-7).

My main point is that I’ve been assuming that 6-6 gets us bowl eligible but not into a bowl game. The MWC’s failure to qualify its allotment of bowl eligible teams might open the door for us even at 6-6.

by Achilles on Nov 17, 2009 3:53 PM PST up reply actions

Billings, Montana sheds a tear for your snub.

What do you have against Billings, Ryan?

by bruinhoo on Nov 17, 2009 4:20 PM PST up reply actions

Nothing against Billings

but Bismarck has the Lewis and Clark Riverboat. That’s a can’t miss.

Formerly ryebreadraz

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 17, 2009 11:35 PM PST up reply actions

I'll gladly take any bowl game

Given the situation we’re in, we can’t be picky.

Blue field, here we come!

by gilbert on Nov 17, 2009 3:14 PM PST reply actions

I'll be there

If I have any pull

There's no one in the world that wants to beat UCLA more than _______.

by ucla13_usc9 on Nov 17, 2009 3:22 PM PST via mobile reply actions

Pete Carroll has a bowl named after him?

Oh, wait, it’s the Humanitarian Bowl, not the “Humanitarian” Bowl.

My bad.

UCLA's most famous athlete: Jackie Robinson
U$C's most famous athlete: OJ Simpson

'Nuff said

by Cade McAdverb on Nov 17, 2009 4:18 PM PST reply actions

LOL!

I don’t even like talking about this yet, but if we go to this bowl I’m THERE! The blue field is awesome and I’ll brave the cold for my Bruins! I will, however, come home to LA for New Years Eve!!! :)

Let’s get #6 this weekend at the Rose Bowl! GO BRUINS!!!

"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel

by uclafan11 on Nov 17, 2009 4:25 PM PST up reply actions

I still hate this

Relentless optimism is one thing, but hoping to go to a MWC bowl slot in Idaho is still depressing. I know it’s a step up, but still come on.

Sorry, I know we have fallen on hard times, but it had to be said as I always expect more.

"If you don't take out his battery, he's going to keep going all day."

by S Jay Bruin on Nov 17, 2009 6:33 PM PST reply actions

the kibbies

aren’t bad this year
at this point, any bowl consideration is a miracle at this point

There's no one in the world that wants to beat UCLA more than _______.

by ucla13_usc9 on Nov 17, 2009 7:50 PM PST up reply actions

And it's not like we're playing on the 23rd or something

This bowl, albeit small, is on the 30th, and this program has not been to a late bowl since the Sun Bowl in 2005.

by Sideout11 on Nov 17, 2009 11:14 PM PST up reply actions

It also looks like the ACC (Eagle Bank Bowl)

and the Big10 (Little Caesars Bowl) might not fill all of their spots. How do teams get assigned to bowls in situations like that?

by PEDbruin on Nov 17, 2009 7:55 PM PST reply actions

Bowls

C-USA is the backup for Army not qualifying in the EagleBank. Tulsa may be that team if they can win one more game.

As far as the ACC and Big Ten spots, those bowls can pick whomever they want of the available teams—but all of the 7-win teams must be taken before any 6-6 team gets taken.

by bruinhoya on Nov 17, 2009 8:02 PM PST up reply actions

Or rather, Tulsa could be if they win two more.

And as noted in the link, Marshall could be that team as well if they win one more.

by bruinhoya on Nov 17, 2009 8:05 PM PST up reply actions

This assumes Wyoming isn't bowl-eligible.

Wyoming is 5-5 right now. They’ll lose to TCU, but will they lose to 3-7 Colorado State also?

Don’t forget all the 7-win teams have to be taken before we can be taken in one of these open slots.

by bruinhoya on Nov 17, 2009 7:59 PM PST reply actions

Boise Ain't Bad

Since I live in Boise right now, I’m all for this. The town is pretty cool, and the crowd loves its college football. The real problem will be that the crowd will be way against UCLA if Idaho is in the game.

Skiing at bogus basin about 15 miles away, decent food, good accomodations close to the stadium.

There are way worse places to go.

And we still have to win one more game, so at this point we can only hope for a bowl.

by rfirpo on Nov 17, 2009 8:59 PM PST reply actions

I love it here.

I grew up in the desert area of southern California and then spend 6 years living in Portland and then Seattle. I’ve been here for the last 4 years and absolutely love it. I think it’s the perfect mix of the two area’s I’ve lived in. The area around Boise is a desert climate so we get nice warm and sunny summers, but not so hot as the summers in the Cali desert. Boise itself has tons of trees (I think Boise is Indian for “city of trees” or something like that), so there’s greenery everywhere which reminds me of Seattle and Portland. Winters can be a bit cold, but they’re mainly sunny, which I personally prefer to the Portland/Seattle winters of constant rain. We get 4" – 6" of snow a few times a year, but it usually only lasts a few days, so you can enjoy it and then it’s gone.

The only problem with the bowl would be that the last few years on the bowl game day, the weather has been absolutely miserable with cold and rainy weather. If UCLA ends up coming here for the bowl, I’m hoping to make it out to the game as it will be my only chance to see a game in person for quite some time, but my son is currently scheduled to come into this world via c-section the day before on the 29th, so I may have other priorities then.

by Insomnia333 on Nov 18, 2009 7:23 AM PST up reply actions

Sounds like you have almost no chance of making it to the game

I hope the pregnancy is going well and wish you luck on the 29th.

A similar thing happened to me 3 years ago. We brought a baby boy home from the hospital (after spending 99 days in the NICU) the day before “13-9”. It’s the only home UCLA/SUC football game I’ve missed in 2 decades.

by bornagainbruin on Nov 18, 2009 7:41 AM PST up reply actions

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath.

When my daughter was born 4 years ago we spend 10 days in the NICU for some minor issues (although we were freaking out at the time). We’re hoping for a nice normal delivery experience this time around.

Personally I’d be wanting to take my newborn son to the game so he can literally say he was a UCLA fan from birth :)

For some reason I’m thinking the wife won’t be down with that.

by Insomnia333 on Nov 18, 2009 7:56 AM PST reply actions

Question.

How far from Napa are you Insomnia? I have family there and I’m trying to convince my wife to atleast consider a move there. What do you think of the Boise Metropolitan area.

by hval14 on Nov 18, 2009 8:53 AM PST reply actions

About 15 minutes

I live in Boise proper, in between the airport and downtown. I’m literally 3 minutes away from Bronco Stadium if I don’t hit any traffic lights. Nampa is about a 15 – 20 min drive down the freeway. Not knowing where you may be comming from I can’t do a direct comparison, but comming here from big metro areas like Seattle and Portland and Southern California, the way I explain it to people is Boise is big enough that you don’t feel like you are missing out on anything, but small enough that you don’t feel crowded out.

Sports wise we don’t have any pro teams, but we do have BSU and this is definitely a college town. Most people here bleed Blue and Orange. We also have minor league Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey; and we also have an Arena Football team.

We also have almost all of the major national retail and restaurant chains, plus a wide variety of local ones that are good as well.

Heck, if you like to gamble, Jackpot, NV is only a 2 hour drive away and they have a nice little casino there. Me and the wife love the head out there a couple times a year for a weekend getaway.

All in all, as I said above, I love it here, and have no desire to move back to any of the “Major” Metro areas I once lived in. The only major drawback is little chance of seeing UCLA football or basketball up here. I think the non-revenue sports make it up here a little more often though.

by Insomnia333 on Nov 18, 2009 9:40 AM PST up reply actions