LSU, fans putting on rush for Rose berth

28,500 are requesting tickets, pending an invitation to Tigers
Thursday, November 30, 2006
By James Varney
BATON ROUGE -- Heeding the call of their alma mater, LSU alumni have responded in droves to school requests they buy Rose Bowl tickets.

By Wednesday afternoon, 24 hours after announcing a nationwide campaign by the LSU Alumni Association and the Tiger Athletic Foundation, the school had sold 12,000 tickets to the legendary New Year's Day event in Pasadena, Calif. -- all without an official invitation from the Rose Bowl in hand, Athletic Director Skip Bertman said. The smashing box office, added to commitments previously made by season-ticket holders, puts the university's total at 28,500, Bertman said.

The sales surge also followed by one day Bertman's proclamation that he did not want LSU passed over by the Rose Bowl because the team's support seemed in any way tepid. He hoped LSU fans would pledge 22,000 tickets before the Rose Bowl committee meets Sunday morning to make its official choices.

"Now I'm calling out there to see what the ticket total might be that we can have," he joked.

The figure appeared to stun Mitch Dorger, the chief executive of the Rose Bowl, who cautioned against over-excitement on the part of any school under consideration.

"Wow," he said, laughing when told of LSU's figure. "We don't want them to sell too many more."

That's because the bowl picture remains unsettled, with a handful of teams representing campuses from Rutgers to UCLA yet to play their final role in the drama. Plus, Dorger said the Rose Bowl's first preference, in keeping with the game's historical ties, is to pit Midwestern and West Coast titans against one another.

"There's so much stuff floating around out there that is unbelievable," he said. "We try to maintain a Pac-10/Big Ten matchup whenever we can, and there's still an outside chance that can happen.

"But we are certainly aware here of the excellence of LSU, how good its team is and how serious their fans are."

While bowl and university officials maintained diplomatic fronts, momentum for LSU making its first Rose Bowl appearance was visibly building.

(more through link: http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-27/116487086066140.xml&coll=1)

 

Just reading this article, I have a hard time believing that story in Detroit that the Rose might kick UM to the curb in favor of ND. That's just unlike the Rose Bowl to do that. They want a Big-10 and Pac-10 team there, and they only seem to stray when the NCG comes into play and snatches one of those entrants from them. Yes?

 

The Rose Bowl bigwigs are assuming Notre Dame will bring vast amounts of fans and guarantee big TV ratings, but I'm getting the feeling that ND's performances against UM and USC are beginning to taint them with the putrid odor of "Loser". LSU, currently, just may outdraw ND on both fronts.

 

I believe that we will and think it was a good move for Skip to rally the fans to get their tickets over a week before "Selection Sunday" even though our fate is not 100%. It created a buzz for the Rose Bowl, in addition to demonstrating the marketability of the game with our fan base.

LSU is "On the lips" in the media and it surely won't hurt the selection committe knowing not only would we come, but now we're expecting to be invited and are making plans, booking flights, rooms, etc.

 

oh i think behind closed doors they are jumping for joy, i mean we've almost sold out half their stadium

 

Good point... but i dont think that they will have to worry about not selling out, regardless who plays.

 

It is also going to help us out in future years if we fall into the same situation. Bowl reps are going to remember how LSU and their fans responded to this and put them high on their lists. Just another notch in the post season traveling belt.

 

After they see our gig, meet our fans, and taste our food......they'll be begging for us to return! :thumb: