Jan 20 | National Championship

[Dale]

 

[NDPhilly]

Yup, outside of our 2nd quarter we pretty much moved the ball at will against them. Just couldn't get off the field on third down.

 

[Hautian Domer]

This is a non-game post, but I went to Atlanta with the hope of getting tickets. The ticket prices quickly went the opposite direction - they were in the $3,000+ range for the cheapest seats.

But, that's not the point of the post. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a pretty bad spot to host a game. For such a major city, the availability of bars and restaurants downtown and near the vicinity of the stadium are bleak. Given that it was the NC, many establishments were closed down for private, corporate evens. The bars at the hotels (Omni) were a joke ... it took forever to get a drink. Getting an Uber to Georgia Tech / Midtown or other parts was a PIA. The city is too spread out and lacks the amenities needed in its core, central areas. The area just isn't geared for / or is ill prepared to host major events.

Curious if any of you had similar or differing experiences.

 

[Free Manera]

This is a non-game post, but I went to Atlanta with the hope of getting tickets. The ticket prices quickly went the opposite direction - they were in the $3,000+ range for the cheapest seats.

But, that's not the point of the post. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a pretty bad spot to host a game. For such a major city, the availability of bars and restaurants downtown and near the vicinity of the stadium are bleak. Given that it was the NC, many establishments were closed down for private, corporate evens. The bars at the hotels (Omni) were a joke ... it took forever to get a drink. Getting an Uber to Georgia Tech / Midtown or other parts was a PIA. The city is too spread out and lacks the amenities needed in its core, central areas. The area just isn't geared for / or is ill prepared to host major events.

Curious if any of you had similar or differing experiences.

I have seen this expressed in many different places, from many different people. My impression of Atlanta is that it is like Philadelphia - a sprawling city with sports complexes miles away from the fun parts of town. Not ideal.

 

[MNIrishman]

I have seen this expressed in many different places, from many different people. My impression of Atlanta is that it is like Philadelphia - a sprawling city with sports complexes miles away from the fun parts of town. Not ideal.

Are there any traditional big bowl sites that are actually good?

 

[IRISHDODGER]

This is a non-game post, but I went to Atlanta with the hope of getting tickets. The ticket prices quickly went the opposite direction - they were in the $3,000+ range for the cheapest seats.

But, that's not the point of the post. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a pretty bad spot to host a game. For such a major city, the availability of bars and restaurants downtown and near the vicinity of the stadium are bleak. Given that it was the NC, many establishments were closed down for private, corporate evens. The bars at the hotels (Omni) were a joke ... it took forever to get a drink. Getting an Uber to Georgia Tech / Midtown or other parts was a PIA. The city is too spread out and lacks the amenities needed in its core, central areas. The area just isn't geared for / or is ill prepared to host major events.

Curious if any of you had similar or differing experiences.

Been hearing this from everyone that attended. It’s the largest airport in the US and boasts how “efficient” it is when it’s anything but that when there’s a big event. Bars & hotels (and evidently airport security) was horribly understaffed. Heard of bars running out of beer by 6 pm on the Sunday before the game. Keep in mind it was a holiday weekend. SVP & Stanford Steve sounded like it was even worse than ATL hosted the Super Bowl a few years ago (2019?) Security line was reportedly a 3 hr wait so lots of travelers missed their flight. One hack I heard for future reference is to go to the International gate and enter security there. Then take a tram to your gate.

 

[calvegas04]

Are there any traditional big bowl sites that are actually good?

Vegas will take over as a new traditional bowl site, much better for the fan experience

 

[NDPhilly]

I have seen this expressed in many different places, from many different people. My impression of Atlanta is that it is like Philadelphia - a sprawling city with sports complexes miles away from the fun parts of town. Not ideal.

As someone who spends too much time at Philly’s sports complex, can’t really compare the two. While there aren’t a ton of bars around the stadiums, it’s so much easier to get around in Philly than one of these sprawling southern / western cities. 10 minute subway ride from City Hall.

 

[NDPhilly]

Seeing some CFB fans online realize “oh wow they were really really injured” after 3 NC game starter transferred is pretty hilarious.

 

[calvegas04]

Seattle also has pretty good access to their stadiums and it is close to bars and restaurants

 

[Hautian Domer]

Are there any traditional big bowl sites that are actually good?

Vegas, is obviously great and efficient. Other than the terrorist attack, New Orleans is great. The French Quarter is right by the Dome which holds 1,000+restaurants, bars, hotels, shops. Everything is walkable. I went to Nashville for the Music City Bowl and all you have to do is walk across the bridge and you're on Broadway and in the heart of downtown. Dallas-Arlington was a major pain in the ass. Probably worse (amenities wise) than Atlanta.

 

[RDU Irish]

This is a non-game post, but I went to Atlanta with the hope of getting tickets. The ticket prices quickly went the opposite direction - they were in the $3,000+ range for the cheapest seats.

But, that's not the point of the post. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a pretty bad spot to host a game. For such a major city, the availability of bars and restaurants downtown and near the vicinity of the stadium are bleak. Given that it was the NC, many establishments were closed down for private, corporate evens. The bars at the hotels (Omni) were a joke ... it took forever to get a drink. Getting an Uber to Georgia Tech / Midtown or other parts was a PIA. The city is too spread out and lacks the amenities needed in its core, central areas. The area just isn't geared for / or is ill prepared to host major events.

Curious if any of you had similar or differing experiences.

You would have loved the Orange Bowl - the king of middle of fucking nowhere now surrounded by an F1 track that really fooks up the parking/tailgating/pedestrian flow. I'm not sure there is a bar within a mile and a half of that place and its a looooonnggg ways from South Beach.

 

[dankgesang]

Yup, outside of our 2nd quarter we pretty much moved the ball at will against them. Just couldn't get off the field on third down.

It would be more accurate to say that we did blood magic using a possessed Howdy Doody doll, who then broke into a million pieces and barfed everywhere, after which we didn't do anything on offense until we were losing 28-7 and the OSU defense started giving away yards in exchange for clock.
Sure "didn't do anything" was only three possessions and the fact that we didn't have more was because the defense as you say couldn't get off the field, but we absolutely did not 'move the ball at will on them'.

It was a kick-ass season and the championship game far more compelling and encouraging than anything about 2013, let's stick to that.

 

[Irish_Mickey]

This is a non-game post, but I went to Atlanta with the hope of getting tickets. The ticket prices quickly went the opposite direction - they were in the $3,000+ range for the cheapest seats.

But, that's not the point of the post. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a pretty bad spot to host a game. For such a major city, the availability of bars and restaurants downtown and near the vicinity of the stadium are bleak. Given that it was the NC, many establishments were closed down for private, corporate evens. The bars at the hotels (Omni) were a joke ... it took forever to get a drink. Getting an Uber to Georgia Tech / Midtown or other parts was a PIA. The city is too spread out and lacks the amenities needed in its core, central areas. The area just isn't geared for / or is ill prepared to host major events.

Curious if any of you had similar or differing experiences.

Same for me. First time in Atlanta as an adult and I was thoroughly diappointed and unimpressed. Been hearing all my life how great Buckhead is...while I wasn't expecting South Beach or Bourbon St, I was at least hoping for something in the ballpark of a Georgetown, Deep Ellum or Ybor City. As a DMV native, Buckhead reminded me of a sh*ttier Rockville MD and Downtown reminded me of soul-less concrete-laden Crystal City VA. I'm sure there are some nice hangouts around, but they weren't near me. The only highlight was spotting Shane GIllis at our bar.

Back in 2012, I was dining alfresco on Ocean Drive and swimming on Miami beach. Although Atlanta was the closest bowl option for me, that didn't help much as I sat on the tarmac for 2+ hours waiting to de-ice, but (lucky for me), at least my flight did take off. The airport turned into a refugee camp after I left.

 

[greyhammer90]

Downtown Atlanta is really bad because it's basically only a business center and there is no culture at all. Totally deserted on the weekends by anyone not looking for trouble. Midtown and Buckhead are pretty fun if you know where to look. The main issue is that the people who came out saw Atlanta at its absolute worst because it was abnormally cold. Normally there's the urban trail and tons of outdoor drinking areas. Those were all closed up/deserted because the weather was in the 20s with wind gusts. Atlanta is much better when the weather is warm, aka the other 9 months of the year.

 

[dublinirish]

This bit was funny. Cant believe some folks spent 24 hours stuck there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[stlnd01]

I haven’t been to the Fiesta since it moved to Glendale but of the other NY6 bowls the only one in a good location really is the Sugar.
Rose is lovely but in a kinda isolated park. Orange is middle of nowhere. Cotton Bowl is just in a sea of parking lots midway between Dallas and Fort Worth and the weather sucks that time of year.
More reason to either play more CFP games on campus or spread them to cities like Vegas, Indy, Minneapolis where the stadiums are better located.

 

[Irish#1]

I haven’t been to the Fiesta since it moved to Glendale but of the other NY6 bowls the only one in a good location really is the Sugar.
Rose is lovely but in a kinda isolated park. Orange is middle of nowhere. Cotton Bowl is just in a sea of parking lots midway between Dallas and Fort Worth and the weather sucks that time of year.
More reason to either play more CFP games on campus or spread them to cities like Vegas, Indy, Minneapolis where the stadiums are better located.

Yep, Indy knows how to host these type of events. Can't fault ATL for the weather, that stuff happens once in a while. Went to the playoff game against Clemson at the Cotton Bowl. Nothing going on around there and for the money Jones spent to build it, I was not impressed with the stadium.

 

[stlnd01]

Yep, Indy knows how to host these type of events. Can't fault ATL for the weather, that stuff happens once in a while. Went to the playoff game against Clemson at the Cotton Bowl. Nothing going on around there and for the money Jones spent to build it, I was not impressed with the stadium.

You can’t fault ATL for the weather but also one shouldn’t assume ATL (or DFW) will have good weather in early January. I also went to the Clemson Cotton Bowl and was unimpressed.

So if you’re going to have CFP games in those cities, you might as well also have them in northern cities with (domed) stadiums that are better set up for this sort of event (with lots of people traveling in for the game and not necessarily locals driving to the game like an NFL game).

 

[Bane]

You can’t fault ATL for the weather but also one shouldn’t assume ATL (or DFW) will have good weather in early January. I also went to the Clemson Cotton Bowl and was unimpressed.

So if you’re going to have CFP games in those cities, you might as well also have them in northern cities with (domed) stadiums that are better set up for this sort of event (with lots of people traveling in for the game and not necessarily locals driving to the game like an NFL game).

I lived in the Atlanta area for years, and they get bad weather frequently, yet every year they acted surprised it was happening to them. Good to see that's still the case, and they still haven't learned any lessons.

 

[Irishdawg]

I lived in the Atlanta area for years, and they get bad weather frequently, yet every year they acted surprised it was happening to them. Good to see that's still the case, and they still haven't learned any lessons.

Same and I still have adult kids that live there. I’m back a few times a year. I remember the Super Bowl in 2017 was a cold icy disaster. That’s why the NFL hasn’t scheduled a superbowl there since.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Are there any traditional big bowl sites that are actually good?

NOLA for the Sugar is by far the best. You can walk to the Superdome from the French Quarter.

The Rose Bowl is terrific for the setting, but not much in the area and traffic is a nightmare.

 

[Hautian Domer]

Yep, Indy knows how to host these type of events. Can't fault ATL for the weather, that stuff happens once in a while. Went to the playoff game against Clemson at the Cotton Bowl. Nothing going on around there and for the money Jones spent to build it, I was not impressed with the stadium.

My post wasn’t faulting ATL on the weather. Obviously, that’s outside of their control. It’s just the downtown area near the stadium, despite having the aquarium, Coca Cola museums, and College Football Hall of Fame, has extremely little around it for fans. That led to hotels and what little restaurants and bars being packed to the gills, understaffed, out of and/or impossible to get food or drink. We waited forever to get an Uber to take us to Peachtree near GT which was a glorified Eddy Street. It was just a chaotic mess.

 

[dublinirish]

 

[hungryhippo]

2008 is Gillis trolling tf out of us, confirmed.

 

[Bane]

 

[spoonidentity]

Wait... January 25th??? The game wouldn't even be played yet at this time next year??

 

[MPClinton22]

My post wasn’t faulting ATL on the weather. Obviously, that’s outside of their control. It’s just the downtown area near the stadium, despite having the aquarium, Coca Cola museums, and College Football Hall of Fame, has extremely little around it for fans. That led to hotels and what little restaurants and bars being packed to the gills, understaffed, out of and/or impossible to get food or drink. We waited forever to get an Uber to take us to Peachtree near GT which was a glorified Eddy Street. It was just a chaotic mess.

Yeah we ended up at the Margaritaville downtown because they had several bars open, and they started running out of beer at 3 PM. For a big city their options for pregame were really pathetic

 

[Irish du Nord]

This is a non-game post, but I went to Atlanta with the hope of getting tickets. The ticket prices quickly went the opposite direction - they were in the $3,000+ range for the cheapest seats.

But, that's not the point of the post. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a pretty bad spot to host a game. For such a major city, the availability of bars and restaurants downtown and near the vicinity of the stadium are bleak. Given that it was the NC, many establishments were closed down for private, corporate evens. The bars at the hotels (Omni) were a joke ... it took forever to get a drink. Getting an Uber to Georgia Tech / Midtown or other parts was a PIA. The city is too spread out and lacks the amenities needed in its core, central areas. The area just isn't geared for / or is ill prepared to host major events.

Curious if any of you had similar or differing experiences.

I used to work downtown, it feels like a much smaller city than it is. The area by Mercedes Benz is a ton of concrete once you leave Centennial Park

 

[KMac151993]

Wait... January 25th??? The game wouldn't even be played yet at this time next year??

2027...are you a time traveler such that it is already 2026 from where you are from??? Plus today is 1/28...