International Bowl: South Florida vs Northern Illinois

• TBone14

  

  I enjoy watching USF...two the the best DEs in the country for the Bulls and exciting freshman quarterback BJ Daniels.
  
  The MAC has been brutally disappointing so far this bowl season so a win for the Huskies would really help the conference.
  
  Currently 3-0 Bulls with 2:00 left in the 1st quarter and NIU has it at their own 28.
• Walt

  

  Nothing to do with the game, but every time I watch or see a game played in Toronto I think the turf looks horrible. Were the contractors who installed their field drunk while on the job? I've never seen one of the newer "field turf" style surfaces look so bad. You'd think they'd have enough money to install a good surface.
• CinciX12

  

  I am so confused as to why this game gets to be on Jan. 2nd.
  
  Why did we get away from the theory that only the prestigous bowl games are played after the end of the year.
• TBone14

  

  Walt- The turf here reminds me of the turf in St Pete that the Rays play on..just ugly stuff. I believe this may the the NexTurf...Toledo also has it. It is an upgrade to artifical turf but is not as good or as good looking as FieldTurf.
  
  Cinci- I have no idea. I know they like to have only one game per night during the week. All of these sponsors pay so much money for the games..they don't want any competition during their game so they spread the out to the max. The GMAC bowl is Wednesday..the day before the National Championship game.
  
  NIU punched in a FG. 3-3. Huskies are playing inspired.
• CinciX12

  

  Who's the sponsor for this game?
• darbypitcher22

  

  NexTurf is poor man's field turf.
  
  The International Bowl is the little step brother(althought like 10 years later) to a game that was originally supposed to be played in New Zealand(look up defunct bowl games on Wikipedia) between a Pac 10 and a WAC team that never got off the ground. Why you would take a bowl game out of the country I have no idea, but whatever.
  
  Having these games dispersed between the BCS games is stupid
• TBone14

  

  Obviously there is no sponsor in the name, but 5 Hour Energy seems to have the most ads around the stadium and during the commercials. They should just call it the Toronto Bowl.
• darbypitcher22

  

  They play it in Rogers Centre(formerly SkyDome) which seats like 60K but I doubt there's that many people there.... Toronto isn't a January destination
• Walt

  

  TBone14 wrote: Walt- The turf here reminds me of the turf in St Pete that the Rays play on..just ugly stuff. I believe this may the the NexTurf...Toledo also has it. It is an upgrade to artifical turf but is not as good or as good looking as FieldTurf.

  I Googled it.... The field in Toronto is "Field Turf" brand and was installed in 2005.
• TBone14

  

  Doesn't Ohio State have Field Turf? It looks a lot better than this stuff.
  
  3-3 at half.
• ts1227

  

  Field Turf always gives off kind of an odd look in settings with roofs, and therefore artificial light bouncing off of it.
  
  It usually looks a little goofy in Atlanta, New Orleans, etc. too compared to those who have it outside.
• Walt

  

  The thing I noticed about the stadium in Toronto that I've not seen elsewhere is that the turf appears to have been installed in small (approximately 4 yds x 2 yds) rectangular pieces. The other fields that I've seen have the turf installed in long strips, side line to side line, sometimes as wide as 5 yards. The seams aren't as noticeable because they align with the yard lines on the field. I've been on the field at OSU (and it's Field Turf) and you have a hard time finding or seeing the seams.
• darbypitcher22

  

  How it looks depends on how much play the field gets. you know that both the Rays and Jays play 81 dates in those respective stadiums so there's use on it everyday, and I would assume there's stuff going on in there when they're not playing