Penn State 2014 Season Opener in Ireland
Penn State will open its 2014 college football season against Central Florida in Dublin's Croke Park Classic. The Nittany Lions will be the first B1G football team to play abroad since 1993 when Michigan State loss to Wisconsin in Tokyo.
Bill O'Brien, who worked with UCF coach George O'Leary at Georgia Tech, on the matchup:
"Our players and coaches are so excited to go to Ireland and play a college football game in such a historic and outstanding venue. I have great respect for Coach O'Leary and his team and playing UCF in Ireland will be a fantastic experience for all the players, coaches and fans."
top ex patriots
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Stanley Kubrick
- Drew Bledsoe
That is why this particular game is being played. Yes, it is a dull, uninteresting game from a football perspective, but it at least has a scintilla of relevance to the Emerald Isle with the respective head coaches being Irishmen by blood.
I imagine that Dublin very much liked the increased tourism Notre Dame brought and went looking for another partner. PSU is kind of the next best thing for this, PA has a large Irish American population and they're a big name school (their bowl ban helps, too). UCF isn't going to be able to bring the kind of people Navy did, though.
I wish we were playing UConn in Europe.
How does this relate in any way to Michigan football? Did you go to the wrong blog?
This comment is only acceptable if you posted this in the other active threads at the moment, including but certainly not limited to:
- "Illinois' New Helmets: Ehhh."
- "Way OT: "Sharknado" alert"
- and an article about fly-fishing.
well, PSU has a lot in common with the Catholic Church so they should be fairly popular
Murica at her worst.
Lighten up Francis. That was pretty funny.
nope. you're wrong.
Some of the information on the packages offered is already up, from the look of things. Here's the "Dublin Only", which starts at $1,519 and includes priority seating at the game itself and a tour of the Guinness Stonehouse. There are also multi-city packages which include destinations like Kerry and Galway (and are also a week long, compared to 4 days, 3 nights). Theey've even partnered with Aer Lingus to provide the transportation to Ireland, although the pricing of that is not yet available. Apparently, the Penn State Alumni Club is trying to treat their fans well, if nothing else.
When did freaking Ireland become such a "go-to" spot for college football? ND I sorta get (although I'm not sure how many true Irshmen give two shits about American football) but PSU & Central Florida??? Not only will the Irsh fans be confused - they'll be bored.
You notice we don't read about two random countries travelling here to play Cricket or Team Handball or any other euro sport. Only Americans think that because we find a sport amusing every other country on the planet (but especially Ireland) will find it equally amusing.
You're probably right.
But if we're going to travel someplace cool to watch a game why the hell do they keep picking Ireland for God's sake? I've been there - there isn't much to see unless you're really into bars and rain. Go to Hawaii or France or Australia or Germany or even Brazil if you want to combine a trip with a game.
But don't go to Dallas. I did that last year and it was no fun whatsoever. Especially once the game started.
For those of us who appreciate history and the fact that about 70 million Americans(including myself) origins in part from from Erin there is much to see and experience in Ireland.
There is much to see in almost any place on earth if you are a curious person. Only those with narrow minds struggle to find something interesting to do in other lands.
Ireland is nice because it really is beautiful (both the landscapes and the architecture), is much cheaper than most of the more popular European destinations, has a lot more in the way of culture than people (especially those used to the whole plastic paddy Americanized version of Irishness) expect. I'm not saying it should be on your list of top European destinations, but it's actually a really great trip. I mean, Copenhagen is probably the coolest city ever but there was a time when I'd have thought "wtf Denamrk? lol".
But then I have flight benefits through a relative, so I can afford to be more liberal with my European vacations.
I think there's a lot of people who view going to Europe as a big deal regardless of which city it is and also a lot of people who identify with Ireland to a much greater degree than they probably should and would view Dublin as a dream trip. As I said below, I spent a six hour plane ride with a bunch of Domer fans on their way to the game last year, most of them fell into those two camps.
Personally, I would go to Italy, Germany, and England before I would Ireland. That is nothing against Ireland, but those three countries have more to offer of what I am passionate about(history) than Ireland. It really depends on your interest.
But to call Ireland boring is just plain offensive. A foreign country is intriguing simply for the fact that it is foreign. At least for an inquisitive anyways.
- It's an English speaking country, which makes getting fans to come over easier
- A very large number of Americans (and Pennsylvanians in particular) are of Irish descent and would relish the chance to visit their ancestral homeland
- Dublin has two very large stadiums that only used for specific purposes (GAA finals at Croke Park, Ireland rugby and soccer internationals at Aviva)
- It helps expand the teams involved's brands, somewhat analogous to the NFL's London games
- Timezone works for American TV schedule
- Anecdotally, Irish people are far more interested in American football than most Europeans
Plus, Dublin is a truly beautiful city. If all you saw while you were there were bars, you were doing it wrong.
You can have the game at 2am there and everyone will just be starting drinking. Fantastic place to visit
I'll never understand this fad of going to the other side of the globe to play a game.
Just stay in your own country and play it. That way, fans of those two teams can actually attend it.
Since their fanbase can't travel for a bowl, it's the best way PSU can provide a destination game. Lot's of hardcore PSU fans looking for an excuse to travel somewhere and watch a game
^^^TING!!! Figured it out.
It'll be interesting to see how many PSU fans travel to Ireland for the game.
According to the link, last year's ND-Navy game brought 35,000 U.S. visitors to Dublin, and added $130 million to the Irish economy. Ireland's minister of tourism likely wants this fad to continue.
this game has definitely generated a lot of excitement. We always have travelled well.
Talking to a couple UCF alums, it sounds like equal excitement on their side.
As for myself, my company has an office in Dublin, so I'm already scheming to have a business-related reason to travel there in 14 months. One way or another, I'll make the trip. Ireland is an awesome place --- and they truly adore Americans over there.
I hope those student-athletes have enough time to study on this trip!
Penn State is getting pretty good at this sanctions stuff.
The NCAA limits their recruiting and they still recruit well anyway. The NCAA cancels their bowl games and they make up one of their own.
They can't play for the B1G title, but mark my words, they'll find a way to be champions of something over the next three years. Maybe some Irish rugby league or something.