Batko story on 2008 Sun Bowl

[Slick Manager of Champs]

a fun read. To this day I never understood why Wanny wouldn't try Cross in that game as QB.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...rs-2008-sun-bowl-el-paso/stories/201812200121

 

[pittdan77]

Was only a matter of time before a story about that game made it to print.

 

[WiseAndGlorious]

That is pretty entertaining. More so than that game was anyway.

McKillop: “Our first practice out there, Wannstedt had to cancel it midway through. I don't know if he’ll say that, but we may or may not have been all still drunk and hungover.”

Bostick: “I remember Michael Irvin was there, on our sideline. He knew coach Wannstedt, and I just remember how fragrant Michael Irvin was. He had great cologne on. Those are the things you remember when you lose, 3-0. You remember everything else but the actual game.”

 

[California Gold]

At the official after New Year’s eve after party, I remember people were talking and pretty upset. There was words floating about players breaking curfews & being hungover for the early kickoff.

Apparently our playcaller was more concerned about pursuing a special female companion (the eve of the game) than the partaking in the bowl itself.

That is pretty entertaining. More so than that game was anyway.

McKillop: “Our first practice out there, Wannstedt had to cancel it midway through. I don't know if he’ll say that, but we may or may not have been all still drunk and hungover.”

Bostick: “I remember Michael Irvin was there, on our sideline. He knew coach Wannstedt, and I just remember how fragrant Michael Irvin was. He had great cologne on. Those are the things you remember when you lose, 3-0. You remember everything else but the actual game.”

 

[BigBird80]

That is pretty entertaining. More so than that game was anyway.

McKillop: “Our first practice out there, Wannstedt had to cancel it midway through. I don't know if he’ll say that, but we may or may not have been all still drunk and hungover.”

Hahahahaha that’s great. Good to hear the players treat the trip as it should be treated and have fun.

 

[pittmeister]

As I said in previous posts, the Sun Bowl is a great bowl for the players. They’ll have a great time. El Paso does it right. That bowl has been around since 1935.

 

[18Melba]

Watching that game was painful. The cbs announcers who obviously didn't do any prep work messing up name after name was insult to injury.

 

[cruzer]

a fun read. To this day I never understood why Wanny wouldn't try Cross in that game as QB.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...rs-2008-sun-bowl-el-paso/stories/201812200121

Sadly, I attended that Sun Bowl game. People in El Paso were very nice. El Paso itself is....well let's just say if you've never been there you're not missing much. The game set back college football 50 years. Simply horrible. Walking back to our hotel after the game and talking to a few OSU fans (who were very nice btw). They won and even they were pissed. No way I'll ever return to the scene of that train wreck.

Cruzer

 

[DiehardPanther]

Wanny sounds like the fun Uncle who would buy you booze when you were under age.

 

[DruidTM]

Hahahahaha that’s great. Good to hear the players treat the trip as it should be treated and have fun.

Yeah great woo hoo...

That game sucked.... if they pull anything similar Stanford will kill them...

 

[lilspainishflea]

I was there. Drove in from New Mexico where I was stationed with the USAF. I had been flying nights so I couldn't sleep a minute before the game. Went into the stadium very early, maybe 8am or so. I was the only one there and met Michael Irvin which was cool. Also saw Shady up close and he was shockingly huge (we'd later meet again at the Y in Mechanicsburg). Watched the game, got horrible sunburn, listened to the boos, and drove home. Had to take a nap at an Indian casino in the middle of nowhere because I was falling asleep at the wheel after like 60 hours on no sleep. Made it back to our NYE party on January 1 at about 12:05 a.m.

That was it. The only bowl game I've ever been to. Definitely won't be returning to El Paso, although I will give them credit it was a cool atmosphere and the people were extremely nice.

 

[BigBird80]

Yeah great woo hoo...

That game sucked.... if they pull anything similar Stanford will kill them...

It’s a bowl game, who cares?
This game is about players getting gifts and getting a free vacation. We get 3-4 hours of tv entertainment.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

It’s a bowl game, who cares?
This game is about players getting gifts and getting a free vacation. We get 3-4 hours of tv entertainment.

In most cases, yes. But this one had a lot of meaning. It would have assured a Top 25 final ranking, which would have also got us ranked to start the next season. It would have got us to 10 wins for the first time since 1981. It was a national TV game against a P5 team, good exposure in a traditional bowl. so this bowl, more than any in recent years, had a lot of meaning. Similar to the Pinstripe bowl in 2016. Losses in both of these bowls prevented top 25 finishes and took a lot of buzz off the upcoming season. Remember college football is all about buzz and perception.

 

[McKee Place]

In most cases, yes. But this one had a lot of meaning. It would have assured a Top 25 final ranking, which would have also got us ranked to start the next season. It would have got us to 10 wins for the first time since 1981. It was a national TV game against a P5 team, good exposure in a traditional bowl. so this bowl, more than any in recent years, had a lot of meaning. Similar to the Pinstripe bowl in 2016. Losses in both of these bowls prevented top 25 finishes and took a lot of buzz off the upcoming season. Remember college football is all about buzz and perception.

Exactly. Means little to established programs, probably. But for one that struggles like ours, it's helpful to finish strong and positive, to gain some mo in the final recruiting push and season tix sales.

It's one of those seemingly many games and circumstances that differentiate Pitt (in a bad way). Half of all teams lose a bowl game each year after all; and half lose their conference championship game; and many replace a coach; but we tend to find inexplicable ways to look utterly ridiculous in these events. That game would and should never be remembered for anything, and if a 24-17 loss, likely wouldn't be. But the way it went down made it infamous.

 

[Las Panteras]

That was the game our 5 star tackle and future Oakland raider Lucas Nix got hurt in practice the week of the sun bowl.

Our depth was so fantastic back then that one Chase Clowser got his one and only start.

Shady had nowhere to run, and we couldn't score a point in a bowl game

 

[steelcurtain55.]

That was the game our 5 star tackle and future Oakland raider Lucas Nix got hurt in practice the week of the sun bowl.

Our depth was so fantastic back then that one Chase Clowser got his one and only start.

Shady had nowhere to run, and we couldn't score a point in a bowl game

Pinkston

 

[DruidTM]

In most cases, yes. But this one had a lot of meaning. It would have assured a Top 25 final ranking, which would have also got us ranked to start the next season. It would have got us to 10 wins for the first time since 1981. It was a national TV game against a P5 team, good exposure in a traditional bowl. so this bowl, more than any in recent years, had a lot of meaning. Similar to the Pinstripe bowl in 2016. Losses in both of these bowls prevented top 25 finishes and took a lot of buzz off the upcoming season. Remember college football is all about buzz and perception.

Right on and it’s money lost when you can’t build off a positive and as pointed out repeatedly bouncing out of the top 25 doesn’t help perceptions....save the drinking for AFTER the win ... what’s so difficult to understand?

Like I said Stanford will kill em if they have that attitude again

 

[BigBird80]

Right on and it’s money lost when you can’t build off a positive and as pointed out repeatedly bouncing out of the top 25 doesn’t help perceptions....save the drinking for AFTER the win ... what’s so difficult to understand?

Like I said Stanford will kill em if they have that attitude again

They’re kids who bust their hump year after year for Pitt. If they ger a week away to have fun, they should go all out and enjoy it. Face it, the majority of players don’t give a crap about Pitt after they graduate. It’s the fans who worry about “next year”, the kids are moving on to the NFL or their life’s work. Thanks for the memories Pitt!

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

In most cases, yes. But this one had a lot of meaning. It would have assured a Top 25 final ranking, which would have also got us ranked to start the next season. It would have got us to 10 wins for the first time since 1981. It was a national TV game against a P5 team, good exposure in a traditional bowl. so this bowl, more than any in recent years, had a lot of meaning. Similar to the Pinstripe bowl in 2016. Losses in both of these bowls prevented top 25 finishes and took a lot of buzz off the upcoming season. Remember college football is all about buzz and perception.

We were sitting a row from the Pitt bench .
When they came out of the tunnel at introduction and a bunch of players immediately puked -
Knew it was going to be a long day.

Only reason we didn’t lose by a bunch more was because all the best offensive players From osu sat out

 

[BuffetParrothead]

I still have two 08 Sun Bowl t shirts left from the four I purchased to help PITT or whoever was selling them get rid of them.

EPIC defensive contest.

That's how I explain the game to those who ask?

"it's five o'clock somewhere"
Signed: Mr Buffett
Go PITT & CSU Rams!

 

[McKee Place]

They’re kids who bust their hump year after year for Pitt. If they ger a week away to have fun, they should go all out and enjoy it. Face it, the majority of players don’t give a crap about Pitt after they graduate. It’s the fans who worry about “next year”, the kids are moving on to the NFL or their life’s work. Thanks for the memories Pitt!

Somehow, Pitt always seems to have that attitude, while every team we face inexplicably seem to actually treat it like an actual game. Sad how misplaced the priorities of ... well, every other team in the nation ... apparently is.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

I still have two 08 Sun Bowl t shirts left from the four I purchased to help PITT or whoever was selling them get rid of them.

EPIC defensive contest.

That's how I explain the game to those who ask?

"it's five o'clock somewhere"
Signed: Mr Buffett
Go PITT & CSU Rams!

And you smell like Brut

 

[mike412]

I was sitting on the 40 yard line, very high up. I think the stadium there has 40 rows and I was in row 36. The wind was really gusting, and every pass Stull threw looked like a wounded duck. It would get into the current and just flap around. It probably looked worse from there than it did on TV. The wind got worse as the game went on. How DW thought we could throw to win still boggles my mind 10 years later. And, Clowser was absolutely horrible. But he was never replaced and never given any help.

 

[lilspainishflea]

I was sitting on the 40 yard line, very high up. I think the stadium there has 40 rows and I was in row 36. The wind was really gusting, and every pass Stull threw looked like a wounded duck. It would get into the current and just flap around. It probably looked worse from there than it did on TV. The wind got worse as the game went on. How DW thought we could throw to win still boggles my mind 10 years later. And, Clowser was absolutely horrible. But he was never replaced and never given any help.

IIRC, the Army Golden Knights parachute team was flying overhead to deliver the game ball but they had to cancel because the wind was too severe.

Not sure why Wanny thought Bill would be more effective than the United States Army.