I traded emails today with my bud Chris Fallica at ESPN. Diehard grad of The U, Chris Fowler’s right hand man on GameDay and a vault of Hurricanes knowledge. He bleeds the orange and green.
I shot him a note lobbying GameDay to head south for the finale at the Orange Bowl next week and he assured me he’s already doing all he can behind the scenes.
I let him know about the allCanes bash at the Mayfair next Friday night, the NFL alum and former Canes in town and what an event next weekend is going to be. When prying a little bit more today, he shared the following with me:
“It’s definitely on the radar for next week. It’s a light slate and I’m really pushing them on the idea of a different show. Do it from outside the tunnel at the Orange Bowl or inside the stadium. It’d be great PR for the show. Embrace the history of the game. I put together this list of memorable games/moments for them. Anything i should add? I need to have someone clip all these off for me when I need a good cry!”
The ‘list’ he mentioned had about thirty memorable Canes-themed moments on it. Dude does his homework and bleeds it like the rest of us. What a coup that fans of The U have a guy like Fallica working it behind the scenes.
Chris did want me to let everyone know that this is far from a done deal. Even with the lighter schedule and no “must see” high profile game next week. The suits at ESPN are definitely open to the idea, but they’re not 1000% sold just yet. It’s gonna take a lot of work – both on his part and the part of our fan base.
My suggestion? Email the hell out of ESPN and tell them WHY they need to get their asses down to the Orange Bowl next Saturday. Aside from a good match up of ACC Coastal Division teams, the OB deserves to be sent off in style. This is one of the most legendary stadiums in sports and has more than earned the right to be showcased one last time with the Canes running out of that tunnel.
How many epic games and rating points have the Orange Bowl handed to ABC/ESPN on a silver platter? Too many to count. This stadium deserves to go out with a bang – and it will, regardless of GameDay heads south or not. The party is on and you got your invite. The OB earned it’s right to a nationally televised, high profile send off. Do the right thing, suits.
Make some noise people. Even if we can’t pull this off, let’s go down swinging! Do your part in bringing ESPN College GameDay south next weekend!
UPDATE: I was advised another angle to take would be shooting a note to College Football Live’s viewer feedback section. Double up with an email there as well.
.:Canes305:.