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Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Orange Bowl extends in-person invite to KU

By Ryan Wood

Orange Bowl representative Vance Carlton visited Kansas University to formally invite the Jayhawks to the Orange Bowl.

Photo by Thad Allender

Orange Bowl representative Vance Carlton visited Kansas University to formally invite the Jayhawks to the Orange Bowl.

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Orange Bowl reps in Lawrence

The BCS comes calling on the Kansas football team in the form of an invite to Miami. This week Orange Bowl representatives are in Lawrence to officially invite the Jayhawks to the game.

Hawks headed to Miami

After to falling to Missouri last week in what turned out to be the Big 12 North division title game, KU had to wait it out. Last night the Jayhawks were rewarded for their patience.

Fans following the football team to Miami

The Jayhawks now know where they will be playing on January 3. The big question that remains for fans is how they will get to the Orange Bowl. 6News reporter Crispin Lopez explains how fans are planning their trips to Florida for the big game.

Orange Bowl

He had a tan.

It was a cruel way for Vance Carlton to arrive in Lawrence, where you can see your own breath this chilly time of year. But Carlton, a lifelong Floridian and member of the Orange Bowl Committee, came with news Monday that made his bronze skin not so offensive.

"I'm here to formally give the invite to Kansas in person," said Carlton, decked out in a bright orange blazer and carrying Orange Bowl patches. "Obviously you can give it over the phone. But it's a little nicer when you show up."

Kansas University's football team will play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3 in Miami, news that went public Sunday night. Carlton's four-day stay in Lawrence, therefore, is only a formality.

But Carlton met with KU coach Mark Mangino on Monday morning to officially invite the Jayhawks to South Florida, and he spent the rest of the day shaking hands and doing interviews with various local media outlets.

It will continue throughout the week.

"It's just meet-and-greets," said Carlton, who will head back to Florida on Thursday. "Making sure everybody understands how excited the Orange Bowl is to have Kansas come down to South Florida."

The Jayhawks can expect to play in front of a big crowd in 75,000-seat Dolphin Stadium next month. Kansas and Virginia Tech have an allotment of 17,500 tickets each that they currently are in the process of selling. On top of that, the Orange Bowl already has sold 35,000 tickets to local fans and corporate sponsors.

Though he's been here only one full day, Carlton already has noticed the mood on campus toward KU's postseason destination.

"They're excited," Carlton said. "Obviously they're proud of the season they've had. In talking to everyone from the university, you can see it in their conversation. They want to rehash the whole season with you."

He's here to listen to all of it. The 300-plus member Orange Bowl Committee sends a representative to the campus of each school as soon as a decision is made. Carlton left for Lawrence on Sunday evening almost immediately after the Jayhawks were picked.

Ironically, while Carlton is here hanging with the locals, Mangino will head down to Miami on Wednesday to do the same. He's scheduled to participate in a news conference in Hollywood, Fla., with Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer on Wednesday afternoon.

KU's sixth-year coach probably is well aware of the climate he'll run into down there. The Jayhawks recruit Florida annually.

But just in case he forgot, Carlton is happy to provide insight - as if his skin tone doesn't say enough.

"Sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, sun," Carlton said. "Eighty-two degrees. Sand. Beaches."

And, soon enough, football.

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Comments

billhawk (anonymous) says...

I'm a KU alum that happens to live in South Florida. This is the best Christmas present ever!

December 4, 2007 at 7:24 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...

Yeah, I'm looking forward to heading down that way from the ATL.

December 4, 2007 at 7:49 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

carterpatterson (anonymous) says...

I'm right behind you jayhawkinatl....from Suwanee. We get to see our basketball team whip up on Georgia Tech and then we get a short flight to Ft. Lauderdale to watch the Fighting Manginos.

I hope the Frats and Sororities charter some busses. I feel for the students who no doubt have to dig deep to make the trip.

December 4, 2007 at 8:07 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jacqueshock (anonymous) says...

Hopefully this trip will spark FL recruiting. Even though the Big 3 (Florida, FSU, and Miami) has now become the Big 5 (usf, ucf - Kevin Smith is from Miami), there are still plenty of athletes in the state. KU's offense would be very attractive to receivers looking to showcase some of their skills.

December 4, 2007 at 10:24 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kutravis (anonymous) says...

amazing...simply amazing. what a fantastic year!

December 4, 2007 at 11:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

I used to live in Florida ...

St Pete for three years, Ft Laud a year before that!

I'm so excited to dust off the ruby red sneakers and flip the switch from HOME to AWAY if even just for a few days ...

Party at the Elbo Room on A1A, look for the big guy in a KU hardhat!!! :D

December 4, 2007 at 11:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

klong (anonymous) says...

I think that was really cool of him to come here! I am so proud of this team it is just beyond words.

December 4, 2007 at 7:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

TwistedFish31 (anonymous) says...

I graduated from KU in '89 and have lived in the desert southwest for the last 16 years so I get most of my Jayhawk news from this web site and the KC Star web site.

I might be beating a dead horse here, but of all the mizzou biased articles I've read on the KC Star site, Whitlock's was the worst by far. Is our athletic department going to let that ignorant jerk onto our campus ever again? His latest, which was full of praise for poor mistreated mizzou also stated that no one was going to watch, let alone attend the Orange Bowl. If I was the head of the KU media department, he wouldn't set one foot in Allen FH again without a purchased ticket.

This may have also been mentioned, maybe not. But has anyone spoken to the fact that only 3 of the BCS Bowl teams played more than 1 non conference teams that actually made it to a Bowl game this year? 4 (including Kansas) played against 1 team out of conference that is going Bowling and 3 teams (Ohio State, USC, and Hawaii) didn't play any teams out of conference that made it to a Bowl game. I haven't read that in any of the articles in the Star.

I've read that poor mizzou beat KU late in the season so it should go to a BCS game instead. I haven't read that poor Arkansas beat LSU late so they should play for the title or that poor Illinois beat OSU late (both of those games were lost at Home) so they should play for the title.

Why isn't there anyone out there pointing this stuff out?

December 4, 2007 at 10:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

You're coming off just a little bit biased, Twisted. Mizzou got completely screwed, and I can understand why people would point that out. I don't mind it one bit that Mizzou got screwed, mind you. In fact, I love every second of it. But it's absolutely ridiculous to compare our situation to that of Illinois and Arkansas. Yes, they both won their games. But they didn't win their division as a result of the victory and have a chance to play for the conference championship, and they weren't ranked number 1 as a result of their victory.

So it is an absolute travesty that KU gets to play in the Orange Bowl after losing to Mizzou. But since the whole bowl system is a complete joke to begin with, it doesn't really matter. Let's just revel in the fact that KU is in the Orange Bowl for the first time in almost 40 years and that Mizzou has to play a better team in a lesser bowl. But let's not pretend that KU deserved it over Mizzou.

December 5, 2007 at 2:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

TwistedFish31 (anonymous) says...

actorman, KU lost one game...by 8 points. On the other hand, Mizzou was completely dominated in their last game of the season. Had we lost to those cry babies 3 or 4 games earlier in the season, this would not even be an issue. The missery biased media in Kansas City is keeping the story alive because you guys are eating it up. The national sports writers are talking about it because so many of them know what a joke the BCS system is.

All you're doing is restating what every idiot tiger fan has been writing in the blogs. It's the same ignorant argument and don't believe for a second that you are fooling anyone mizzou fan. It's easy to get a subscription here and post this sort of nonsense, but we know what you are. Now slip out of your Tiger Underoos, put on your special hat and go sell some french fries.

December 5, 2007 at 8:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )