Bowl Game May Hit Albuquerque

[MeanGreen61]

Bowl Game May Hit Albuquerque

Friday, February 17, 2006

Bowl Game May Hit Albuquerque

By Bob Christ

Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer

There were 28 major college bowl games that filled football's postseason calendar in 2005, swallowing up all but a handful of the schools with winning marks last fall.

The New Mexico Sports Authority, however, insists 28 bowls are not enough and has been studying the possibility of bringing a postseason game to Albuquerque.

Maybe even in time for next season.

But don't look for UCLA to be playing LSU. Or Penn State against Oklahoma. Most likely a local bowl would be a marriage of lower-tier leagues.

"Everything at this juncture is exploratory," said Dennis Latta, executive director of the Authority. He said his organization had its first meeting on the subject a year ago.

"We want to see if it's practical," he said. "We have a lot of hurdles to overcome. The deadline to have everything in order is April 1."

That's the last date that the NCAA, the organization that licenses the bowls, will accept proposals for new games.

"It might make more sense to wait a year, take our time," Latta said.

But then again, he said, there's a need for another bowl this season, and a year from now a lot of other cities might jump into the fray for the game.

That "need" would be a matchup between teams from the Mountain West Conference, of which UNM is a member, and the Western Athletic Conference, which added New Mexico State to its roster this school year.

The MWC currently has tie-ins to three bowls; the WAC two.

"We have met with the Mountain West and the WAC, and both leagues badly want it," Latta said.

Even the NCAA's ears are perked, the governor's office said.

"The NCAA is very interested," said Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Gov. Richardson's office. "My understanding it's both because of those two leagues involved and with Albuquerque being in the middle."

Tom Starr, executive director of the Fort Worth Bowl, who has spent 26 years of his career in the bowl business, said the NCAA will want to see proof a bowl will succeed.

"If you have a sugar daddy to put up the letter of credit ($2 million, according to Starr), you have one leg up," he said.

"Then you work to get conferences and TV lined up. You also have to prove you have community support. And even then it's not a slam dunk."

Latta says the whole idea is to boost tourism: "The Fort Worth Bowl had a $20 million impact on tourism. That's what we want."

Said Gallegos: "The governor wants to aggressively pursue this, but to make sure it's a fiscally responsible decision."

[Guest e-bone]

Albuquerque, what an amazing bowl destination.

[untgirl04]

Albuquerque, what an amazing bowl destination.

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It's at least somewhat picturesque.

[eagle60]

I used to live there and in Rio Rancho NM. Lots of interesting restaurants, scenery, hiking, and history there. I enjoyed it a lot and took a youth football team to the state championship game at the UNM stadium where the bowl game would be played. Won it, by the way.

[VideoEagle]

You could ski Sandia Peak before or after the game!

[ipEAGLE]

Not a bad location.

[FirefightnRick]

You could ski Sandia Peak before or after the game!

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Now your talking!

Rick

[Arkstfan]

Conventional wisdom (which rarely means anything with the NCAA) is that there will be only the rotating extra BCS game approved this year to go to 29 games with any 30th game waiting until 2007 or 2008.

[Eagle-96]

My wife and I took our honeymoon in Santa Fe and took a daytrip to Albuquerque for some hot air ballooning. The scenery in NM is amazing and the food is some of the best there is. Not a bad destination at all.

[Guest JohnDenver]

I am getting married 4/1 of this year in Angel Fire, NM. We are staying the week before the wedding in Santa Fe and snowboarding ... Then heading back to Angel Fire for the wedding on the weekend.

I can't think of a better place for a bowl game (minus New Orleans of course). That is the reason I picked it for my wedding ...

[UNT_playmaker]

what about a bowl game in denton

[Stan R]

what about a bowl game in denton

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ah. but then you have all those issues with the hurricanes.

[Cowtown]

I love Alb, almost went to UNM.

The drive from Alb north through Santa Fe up into CO is one of the finest in the world.

It is cheap to get to, the university is next to the airport, there are casinos, skiing...

Seems like I also heard that Denver or Co Springs was trying to land a game also.

The MWC is throwing a line out trying to land another bowl game.

GMG

[NM Green]

Makes perfect sense - the MWC and WAC should play a bowl game with the natural rivalries.

ABQ would be a great place for a bowl game. Santa Fe and ABQ during the holidays with all the luminarios on top of the buildings - completely enchanting - gosh I want my cabin out there!

GMG

[UNTFan23]

what about a bowl game in denton

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And where would the game be played? The Collins Athletic Complex? It only seats about 10k, which isn't big enough.