Leavitt, Woolard already have a fan in El Paso

As Sun Bowl selection committee president John Folmer researched the Big East teams his bowl was considering this fall, he had a steady bug in his ear, singing the praises of USF coach Jim Leavitt and Bulls athletic director Doug Woolard.

"I'm really excited about South Florida coming to El Paso," UTEP coach Mike Price said Tuesday. "Doug and I are real good friends, and I've known Jim Leavitt since he was a grad assistant when I was coaching at Missouri."

Woolard has known Price since he was an associate athletic director at Washington State, where Price was the football coach. Before Price was living and working in El Paso, he visited for the Sun Bowl while at Washington State in 2001 and said it remains one of his favorite bowl experiences.

"When we came down to play Purdue, we were shocked at how much fun we had," Price said. "So many of our fans said it was the best bowl experience they'd ever had. USF can know they're going to have a blast and get to play against a competitive opponent."

Price, whose Miners went 4-8 this season, losing 36-20 to Central Florida on Saturday, said he planned on attending one of USF's practices next month. He's kept watch of the Bulls from afar, knowing all about quarterback Matt Grothe, running back Mike Ford and USF's dominating defense.

-- Bulls fans can check out a new upgraded "Bowl Central" page at Gousfbulls.com, to be rolled out at 4 p.m., the same time as USF's bowl announcement news conference with Leavitt and Woolard. The new bowl page will have information on tickets -- which run between $40 and $60 -- and travel packages to El Paso.

If you jump on now before fares get too bad, the travel aspect of the bowl doesn't seem too bad. I just booked my own airfare, going out the night of the 27th and coming back on New Year's Day, and my round-trip, even with two different airlines, totaled $446, with a week's car rental running a reasonable $110. USF's team will arrive the night of Dec. 26. ...

Comments

[JL]

Man! It was about time you posted something new! I was starting to shake and having some terrible withdrawal symptoms!

Great job Greg!

[Jtrain]

Greg, which company did you get a week's car rental for $110? The rental I reserved is $209 with Advantage, but I can still cancel and switch.

[Sailingbull]

Greg! How did you get the cheap airfare? I was very flexible with the dates and I still couldn't get anything under $600 per person round trip.

[mulham shbeib]

I sent this email to Greg earlier - I am going to post it below. Maybe someone can shed some light on this question I had:

I went to the gousfbulls.com website and find something odd; maybe you can shed some light on this.

http://www.gousfbulls.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&KEY=&SPID=2981&SPSID=37329

If you click on the link above, you will see info about all 10 USF coaches. All of them have emails as well. All of the emails are directed to football@admin.usf.edu, except for Dan McCarney. His is linked to dmccarney@admin.usf.edu. Do you think this is intentional and might have something to do with the fact that he was a head coach last year and a defensive line coach this year? Is USF aware of what a hot commodity he is and does not want to limit his opportunities?

It just seems odd that all other coach emails are directed to football@admin.usf.edu, except for him?

[Jtrain]

Late last night I got round trip airfare through expedia.com for $398. I want to know how Greg got the $110 weekly car rental.

[JoeB]

Check Dollar RentaCar. They are normally the least expensive.

[Jtrain]

Why would Dan McCarney be a hot commodity to fill one of the various head coaching vacancies? He did well at Iowa State while they had Senaca Wallace at QB, but I doubt there's a USF conspiracy to keep him hidden so he's not snatched up by another program.

[mulham shbeib]

Is it just a mistake that he has his own personal email showing while all other coaches are directed to the football@admin.usf.edu email? Or has he requested this?

[Jtrain]

It's because USF knows Michigan badly wants Dan McCarney to be their new head coach, so the USF administration is conspiring to hold the poor guy down. We should hold a candle-light vigil in Dan's honor tonight and chant, "let my people go."

Sorry for the sarcasm, I couldn't help it. If any other school is interested in McCarney, Jim Leavitt wouldn't stand in his way of becoming a head coach again or making more money as an assistant elsewhere.

[Jtrain]

For the same car (Chrysler Sebring) that I reserved $209/week at Advantage, it's $257/week at Dollar Rent a Car. I can't find anything cheaper for a mid-size than what I have. Greg must've received a special press discount.

[Navigator]

"USF will arrive in El Paso on Dec. 26 and spend six days in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. USF will practice at a local high school and participate in daily activities organized by the Bowl." USF press release

Geography isn't USF's forte.

The southern end Rocky Mountains ends about 300 miles north of El Paso near Santa Fe, NM.

[Jtrain]

The Guadalupe Mountains go through El Paso (Spanish for "the [mountain] pass"). Those who haven't been to the southwest before will be very impressed with the El Paso area scenery.

"Check Dollar RentaCar. They are normally the least expensive."

One caveat with Dollar is that if you don't take their insurance and you have an accident they will continue to charge you for the rental till the car is fixed and available for rental again....check with your insurance agent to see if your policy will cover that rental fee...most do not

[Navigator]

Yes, however the Guadalupe Mts aren't part of the Rockies.

[Jtrain]

Also, even though the average El Paso temperatures are a high of 57 and a low of 33 in late December/early January, it feels warmer because the humidity is so low there. 33 degrees at night in El Paso feels like 50 degrees here at night in the winter.

[Dave W]

I just hope Price doesn't invite our guys out to party with him...

McCarney should apply for the Duke job. After all, he found some success at Iowa St where it's hard to win in the Big 12 with their small budget. Spurrier proved that you can win at Duke if you know what you are doing.

"It's rollin' baby! It's Rollin'".

[Jtrain]

Yeah, Spurrier did very well at Duke. Another reason for potential optimism regarding Duke's football team is the success Wake Forest has had in football the past three years. If Wake Forest can do it in the ACC, so can Duke.

[VOR]

For cheap car rates check Hotwire.com also.

[Kyle]

Im splitting a room with 3 friends at the camino real with airfare included for
$584. I thought that was a deal!

[G.A.]

How so cheap? I know a guy.

My travel guy is already gone for the day, but I'll check with him in the morning, see how I got such a good rate.

[mike]

They all have their own email addresses. Everyone at USF has their own email. Probably the coaches are not big fans of random emails so they send everything else through Tonya (secretary). Could be that the others wanted theirs kept private. But every employee at USF in an "administration" position has one. No big conspiracy...jeesh. And why would McCarney be such a hot commodity? Just curious as to why everyone thinks he is out of here.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Greg,,

I need you to find out if there any truth to Jared Fayson transfering..???

The guy is from Hillsborough High I think... Naturally USF would be a perfect fit.

They said he wanted to play QB though. That won't really work with Grothe.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Ahh

Never mind -- its on the Gator blog.

[G.A.]

Fayson has been granted a release to transfer, but Antonya English is reporting he will not be allowed to transfer to another state school.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

That stinks... I don't understand how a school can stop you. So you sign a scholarship and you are forced to stay there even if you dont want to play there anymore.??

That sucks.

I read that he orginally wanted to sign with USF out of high school, but I can't confirm any truth to that.

Fayson is a total stud. Guy is sick

Ari, Rumor is that Fayson wants to play QB and that's why he is leaving Florida.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

i know that.

[SRQ Steve]

Does it seem unfair to anyone else that WVU has a 2 week bye after 6 games? I like the fact that we don't have to play this week (recruiting and early bowl planning) but I think 2 weeks off in the middle of the season would be really beneficial. I believe it was the same last year for WVU.

[Bryan]

Who wants to carpool with me to El Paso?

www.thebullspen.com

go to the road trip board

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Its like 200 more bucks to just fly.

How much is your time worth. It has to take 15 hrs to drive to El Paso each way. That is 30 hrs minus the 10 hrs it takes to fly round trip.. 200 hrs at 200 bucks -- 10 dollars an hour.

I'll fly -- thanks.

[G.A.]

Not to go all green on you guys, but if more than one person travels in the same car, the gas costs go down considerably.

Ari, it's 1700 miles to El Paso from Tampa, so if you can get there in 15 hours, you're averaging 117 mph. With no stops for food. It's a good two-day drive each way.

[JL]

Man Ari! You claim to be Jewish???

Probably people will find this offensive in this PC world!

Can't even joke anymore!

[from CNNSI.com]

BCS/New Year's Day Games

Date Bowl Matchup
Jan. 7 BCS Title Missouri (BCS No. 1) vs. West Virginia (BCS No. 2)
Jan. 3 Orange Virginia Tech (ACC champ) vs. Georgia (BCS at-large)
Jan. 2 Fiesta Kansas (BCS at-large) vs. Arizona State (BCS at-large)
Jan. 1 Sugar LSU (SEC champ) vs. Hawaii (BCS at-large)
Jan. 1 Rose Ohio State (Big Ten champ) vs. USC (Pac-10 champ)
Jan. 1 Capital One Illinois (Big Ten No. 2) vs. Florida (SEC No. 2)
Jan. 1 Gator Texas Tech (Big 12 No. 4) vs. Virginia (ACC No. 3)
Jan. 1 Cotton Oklahoma (Big 12 No. 2) vs. Arkansas (SEC)
Jan. 1 Outback Wisconsin (Big Ten No. 3) vs. Tennessee (SEC)

Other Games

Date Bowl Matchup
Jan. 6 GMAC Tulsa (C-USA No. 2) vs. Bowling Green (MAC)
Jan. 5 International Rutgers (Big East) vs. Ball State (MAC)
Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Clemson (ACC No. 2) vs. Auburn (SEC)
Dec. 31 Insight Indiana (Big Ten No. 6) vs. Oklahoma State (Big 12 No. 6)
Dec. 31 Music City Kentucky (SEC) vs. Florida State (ACC)
Dec. 31 Sun Oregon (Pac-10 No. 3) vs. USF (Big East No. 2)
Dec. 31 Humanitarian Boise State (WAC) vs. Georgia Tech (ACC No. 8)
Dec. 31 Armed Forces Purdue* (Pac-10 No. 6) vs. Air Force (MWC)
Dec. 30 Independence Colorado (Big 12 No. 7) vs. Alabama (SEC)
Dec. 29 Alamo Penn State (Big Ten No. 4) vs. Texas A&M (Big 12 No. 5)
Dec. 29 Liberty Mississippi State (SEC) vs. UCF (C-USA No. 1)
Dec. 29 Meineke Car Care Wake Forest (ACC) vs. Connecticut (Big East No. 3)
Dec. 28 Emerald Cal (Pac-10 No. 4) vs. Maryland (ACC)
Dec. 28 Texas New Mexico* (Big 12 No. 8) vs. Houston (C-USA)
Dec. 28 Champs Sports Boston College (ACC No. 4) vs. Michigan (Big Ten No. 5)
Dec. 27 Holiday Oregon State (Pac-10 No. 2) vs. Texas (Big 12 No. 3)
Dec. 26 Motor City Michigan State (Big Ten No. 7) vs. Central Michigan (MAC)
Dec. 23 Hawaii Nevada (WAC) vs. East Carolina (C-USA)
Dec. 22 Las Vegas UCLA (Pac-10 No. 5) vs. BYU (MWC No. 1)
Dec. 22 New Mexico TCU (MWC) vs. Fresno State (WAC)
Dec. 22 PapaJohns.com Cincinnati (Big East) vs. Southern Miss (C-USA)
Dec. 21 New Orleans Troy (Sun Belt No. 1) vs. Memphis (C-USA)
Dec. 20 Poinsettia Utah (MWC) vs. Navy (at-large)

* -- replacement team for conference without enough eligible teams.

[David]

For flight information try RLSTravel.com. The search came back with non stops from $380 from Tampa to El Paso, 12/26 to 1/1.

DB

[DELdaBULL]

Greg,

Do you know when the travel packages from USF will be announced?

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Thanks greg.. I guess I was off. 1700 miles. I thought it was aroudn 1200.

Still flying.

Ari - the jew.

[Boooooooooyahhhhhhhhh]

Man it's gonna be embarassing when all 356 USF fans make the trip. I'm not going, I was hoping for PIZZA!!! This game is going to be lame and nobody is going to care about it. What a lousy season!

[VOR]

Greg, Could you create a "sticky" blog for the Sun Bowl for all info and hints that come up. It would be sad to loose all these travel hints.

ALSO;
I believe you now need a Passport if you want to travel into Mexico!

[SRQ Steve]

Greg,

Put up the blog or the guesses as to what people thought USF's record was going to be at the beginning of the season. Then we can make fun of or give credit to the people who deserve it. I can't remember what I said, but I think it was 9-3 with some really good wins and some really bad losses.