[NU Sports] good/better/bad news

[cherron604 at aol.com]

 Just got back from Evanston - they did mention constantly (on the message boards) that some bowl representatives were there - the boards kept mentioning Cap-1, Outback and Music City.  My best estimate is that there may have been 35,000 fans in attendance (the end-zone was pretty empty, as were the ends of the west stands, especially the student section).  I am also estimating, but I would say the same bowl representatives saw 10,000-15,000 Hawkeye fans mixed in there.
 
As for the argument that our brand of Football is 'exciting', how can we only draw 25,000 NU fans on a warm (though drizzly) day in November ?  (The rain did not really turn steady until the second half)  Is it exciting but not compelling ?  The marketing team in the athletic office has A LOT of questions to answer.
 
Will the bowl reps remember a dramatic game, good comeback, lots of drama ?  Or will they remember 30 minutes of bad defense, and about 50 minutes of listless offense ?  Or will they remember 25,000 home fans and 10,000 Iowa fans ?  Lots of questions to answer.
 
>From a bowl standpoint, Indiana's loss to Minnesota (coupled with a future game against Michigan), gives them 5 losses (probably 6), and likely limits the conference to 8 bowl teams (with 7 tie-ins).  MSU's loss to Purdue might hurt them (4 losses), with remaining games at Minnesota and hosting Penn State.  At the beginning of the week, CBS had us missing a bowl (they only had 7 Big 10 teams going).  Maisel at ESPN had us in Nashville, as did Forde.  Where will we go (factor in attendance, history of travelling to bowls, TV markets), and where do people 'want' to go ?
 
Ohio is on top of Illinois 26-2 midway through the third.
 
Chuck Herron  Tech '85 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Nolan <nolan at romaine.tssi.com>
To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Sent: Sat, 5 Nov 2005 15:17:34 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [NU Sports] good/better/bad news


The good news is that Northwestern played another 60-minute game with
possibly the best comeback this season.  (That _almost_ makes up for the
last minute loss to Penn State.   Naah, it really doesn't!)

The better news is that Northwestern is bowl-eligible and there were several
bowl reps at the game.

The bad news is that those reps got to watch the stands empty in the 4th
quarter, and the rain is only partially responsible.  

Now that the Cats have the 6-win bowl-eligible monkey off their backs, 
the rest of the season is now about IMPROVING what bowl they go to.  Next 
week's game in Columbus could be really interesting.  Go for it!

I really have to wonder about the wisdom of putting the defense on the
field first.  It's one of the worst in the nation while the offense is one
of the best.  Why lead with your weak suit and generally put yourself in a 
come-from-behind situation right out of the box?

Michigan State's bowl chances took a big hit today, now they need a win
against Minnesota or Penn State.  The former is shakey and the latter
is unlikely.
--
Mike Nolan

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