Fans start drive for bowl trips / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, November 13, 2007

KU leaders, travel agencies anticipate potential destinations

November 13, 2007

Kansas Athletics Inc. is asking members of its Williams Fund to make ticket reservations for potential bowl games, by 5 p.m. Nov. 30, considering these approximate single-ticket prices:

¢ BCS national championship, Jan. 7, $175.

¢ Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 2, $135.

¢ Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, $125.

¢ Orange Bowl, Jan. 3, $125.

¢ Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, $135.

¢ Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1, $90.

¢ Holiday Bowl, Dec. 27, $30-$75.

¢ Gator Bowl, Jan. 1, $50-$75.

¢ Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, $52-$67.

¢ Sun Bowl, Dec. 31, $40-$60.

¢ Insight Bowl, Dec. 31, $55.

Tickets would be sent to buyers on or before Dec. 14.

Kansas University fans hungry for bowl trips already are inquiring about travel plans, whether it's to San Diego, Dallas or - if the unbeaten crimson-and-blue streak continues - perhaps New Orleans to close out this most unexpected of football seasons.

A 10-0 record, with only two regular season games to go, had the phones ringing Monday at 831 Mass.

"They've started calling," said Walt Houk, president of Travellers Inc., which routinely books tours and travel for KU boosters and other fans for athletics events. "We have space tied down in just about all the possible bowl sites they could go to. There's about 10 or 12 bowls in question, and in each place everything's a little different."

And each time Houk's advice is the same: Within an hour of KU knowing its bowl destination, his travel agency will have packages lined up and plenty of seats available.

"I'm a little vague right now because it is vague," he said.

While the numbers, dates and accommodations might change for each locale - including the Holiday Bowl, Dec. 27 in San Diego; the Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1 in Dallas; or the BCS national championship game, Jan. 7 in New Orleans - there's at least one thing that's relatively certain: Chances like this don't come along all that often, and a little uncertainty is nothing to worry about.

"We've been talking about that all day," said Jim Marchiony, an associate athletics director, whose department is aligned with Dodds Athletic Tours for this season's bowl travel. "We need to not look ahead, and - just like the football team's doing - go week to week, work hard and appreciate the journey."

Of course, such a journey spurs thoughts of plenty of travel details, and lining up flights, hotel rooms, meals, entertainment and other features for a top-tier bowl game does take some doing.

That Houk just happened to be around for the last KU visit to a big-time bowl only makes this season's success that much more sweet.

"In 1968 I handled over 3,000 people for the Orange Bowl, so we do have experience in this," said Houk, of the game that followed the '68 season and was played Jan. 1, 1969. "This time, if we handled everybody and there wasn't any competition, there could be anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 people, probably.

"It's exciting, but it's mainly exciting because the team's doing so well."

Houk, now 67, chuckles a bit when he recalls that Miami trip. He'd gone to south Florida well ahead of the game, to line up rooms in seven or eight hotels and to make other arrangements. A shortage of buses meant lining up sightseeing boats to get fans to the game - his slogan: "Kansas Invades the Orange Bowl by Sea" - and making a last-minute trip to City Hall for a parade permit.

With the Marching Jayhawks lined up to lead fans from the boats to the bleachers, Houk left no detail unchecked.

"You plan, and you do what you have to do when the time comes up," Houk said. "By the time we know where they're going this year, we'll be ready."