Friday, November 6, 2009

Las Vegas Gets Ready For Maaco Bowl Las Vegas

By David Walton

The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas will kick off on December 22, 2009 and will pit a team from the MWC against the Pac-10. This post-season college football game is sponsored by Maaco, and has been played annually since 1992 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sam Boyd Stadium seats 40,000 fans and since 2001, the bowl gets first choice of Mountain West Conference teams. Normally, this team would be the MWC conference champion, unless that team was to qualify for the BCS.

Formerly known as the Las Vegas Bowl, the game originated from the California Raisin Bowl, which was played from 1981-1991 in Fresno, CA. After moving to Las Vegas in 1992, the bowl has featured several different conference matchups, but is also known for the 1995 game which featured Toledo and Nevada, where Toledo's 40-37 win in overtime was the first overtime game in college football. Overtime for regular season games was adopted by the NCAA the following year.

BYU has appeared in four Las Vegas Bowls, more than any other team. Although a few other teams have multiple appearances in the bowl, no team has ever won the game more than twice. Since this year's game is slated to feature a team from the strong Pac-10 against the likely MWC conference champion, the game is a good bet to be a competitive one.

The events for the Las Vegas Bowl began October 1 with the VIP Community Kick Off Luncheon, and picked up again on October 22 with the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas VIP Golf Outing. But once the teams are set, the event kicks in for real with the Team Welcome ... Media Conference on December 10th at the ESPN Zone. On December 19th, fans will enjoy Terry Fator Show Night at The Mirage and return to the ESPN Zone for the Welcome Reception.

Sunday, December 12, see Kids Day, the luncheon and a visit to the Sunrise Children's Hospital by the teams. Fans will gather at the Fremont Street Experience on December 21 to cheer along in a pep rally, and there will be several events at the Las Vegas Convention Center, including a Cheer Clinic, Kickoff Luncheon, and Kickoff Media Conference. just before the game kicks off at the stadium, Budweiser sponsors the Bud Light Pre Game Tailgate Party.

There is no other aspect of college football more discussed than the bowl system of the Division I schools. Many fans would like to see the current bowl system replaced with a playoff system where teams would be engaged in single elimination games to determine the eventual college football champion, while many others like the bowl system. Even though many arguments have been made for both sides, the college bowls are always a lot of fun and a nice reward for winning programs and their fans.

If you need tickets to the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, start by checking free online sites like TicketZinger.com, which show a list of all of the available tickets from different sources in one place. It's a good way to get an idea for the going prices, and you can also browse classified ad sites and auction sites. However, be careful! Remember that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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