College Football Penn St/UCF Game confirmed 2014 in Croker

Blut2 · 31-08-2014 6:14pm

Great game, and a great day out. A couple of my friends had never watched an American Football game before, what an introduction for them! It would have been nice if it had been fully sold out, hopefully the next time it happens its priced slightly cheaper so that can happen. The only minor negative I can think of was the PA for the ref was awfully hard to hear at times.

Also, everyone I know absolutely loved the F16 flyover. What a spectacular touch.

noisenotmusic · 31-08-2014 6:20pm

If it had been in the Aviva it would have well sold out, 53,000 were at it according to the announcers. The empty Hill 16 & upper Davin looked poor in person but was covered up well on TV.

Stev_o · 31-08-2014 6:28pm

I honestly didn't think there was too many excessive stoppages, things went by at a good pace and there was always something to do/chant.

Bateman · 31-08-2014 6:59pm

Great day out, was sitting in with the UCF fans, when they got the "game-winning" TD but left 1:13 left on the clock it was obvious what was going to happen, very exciting finish all the same. Was going to back the overs, at half time I was glad I didn't but I did expect a lot more scoring in the 2nd half and thankfully they delivered.

cena · 31-08-2014 10:02pm

Any pictures??

jack presley · 31-08-2014 10:38pm

2-0 for teams staying at Powerscourt Hotel.

dinneenp · 01-09-2014 8:41am

cena wrote: »

Any pictures??

I should have some photos on my photography site this evening. If you go to my homepage I have just two there at the moment.
The first one is what I thought was the winning touchdown.

Heroditas · 01-09-2014 9:01am

Looking back on those highlights last night and it's amazing how much of an impact Holman had when he came on. I thought Hackenberg was class but Holman really played out of his skin.
Two great players on show!

Leslie91 · 01-09-2014 9:35am

jack presley wrote: »

In case anyone was wondering, yes there was someone at Croke Park today wearing a Jonny Manziel jersey!

Saw him too he wasn't far from me. Saw 4 other Bolts jerseys too....

Leslie91 · 01-09-2014 9:39am

Really liked the look and poise of Hack... and the freshman WR Hamilton.

MoyVilla9 · 01-09-2014 12:44pm

cena wrote: »

Any pictures??

Got a handful myself.

KnightLight · 02-09-2014 1:34pm

Just wanted to stop by and say THANK YOU to all (especially to Jack for posting some photos earlier), as EVERY UCF Fan I know had a blast during their stay (some came in late last week and are still there).

We ran into UCF fans from Cliffs of Moher to Galway and down to Waterford and point in-between...but it was great to see that virtually everywhere we went in the country, locals knew about the game in Dublin and welcomed us with open arms.

As I told all my friends after my trip 14 years ago...it was the PEOPLE of Ireland that made my trip so memorable and this time, the Irish didn't disappoint.

Cant recall how many pints I was offered (and excepted...then I returned the favor) and with the Donegal/Dublin game on Sunday, we had supporters from both teams staying at our hotel...and had a blast talking about the build-up with them (we had to leave early Sunday before the match).

I hope ya'll know what a magical place Ireland really is...and I wish some of the hospitality shown from all over your country could be exported to the USA...as its so rare that Americans would treat others like that.

So thanks again for everyone from UCF (and PSU, ran into some great PSU fans too...including a wonderful military historian Tom, from Hershey PA, who joined me and some locals into the wee hours in the AM at the Skylon Pub), as I hope my 3rd trip to Ireland will be sooner than 14 more years.

adrian522 · 02-09-2014 1:53pm

Thanks for the post and interacting on the thread. I had a great time at the game and despite the few problems I hope it's something they do again soon.

Best of luck for the rest of the season!

Bateman · 02-09-2014 5:32pm

Great post - there's the bigger picture right there that people need to think about next time a receipt from a pub in Temple Bar goes viral and sad trolls get their knickers in a twist.

johnmcdnl · 02-09-2014 9:45pm

My Flickr Album Full of Pics

Grabbed a decent number of pictures on the day for anyone that's interested. First time out with a new lens, so nothing spectacular but they'll do the job.

dinneenp · 02-09-2014 10:02pm

Abstract

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more to follow (at some stage)

major deegan · 04-09-2014 12:04am

Hope they do this more often!

jack presley · 04-09-2014 6:52am

major deegan wrote: »

Hope they do this more often!

2017 is the next one and then every second year after that.

Leslie91 · 04-09-2014 9:19am

jack presley wrote: »

2017 is the next one and then every second year after that.

Where did u hear that?, going back to Croker is it or?, unless it's a college with a huge Irishish travelling support these games should move to Lansdowne.

Beefy78 · 04-09-2014 9:22am

They can't move anywhere. It is the GAA putting them on.

major deegan · 04-09-2014 9:22am

Cooool!

salmocab · 04-09-2014 9:27am

I can see the dates being a problem after the uproar this year

MoyVilla9 · 04-09-2014 9:37am

Beefy78 wrote: »

They can't move anywhere. It is the GAA putting them on.

Who put on the Navy game?

jack presley · 04-09-2014 10:03am

Leslie91 wrote: »

Where did u hear that?, going back to Croker is it or?, unless it's a college with a huge Irishish travelling support these games should move to Lansdowne.

I read it in some article in the Irish Times last week. Can't remember what day but it was around the time of the furore over the replay.

It was saying it was GAA promoting it so as others gave said, it'll be Croker again. Week 1 of the college season will probably have to stay but with 3 years notice, I'd be hopeful they'd be able to schedule the championship so there'll be no conflict with games again (or is that wishful thinking?).

bruschi · 04-09-2014 10:14am

jack presley wrote: »

I read it in some article in the Irish Times last week. Can't remember what day but it was around the time of the furore over the replay.

It was saying it was GAA promoting it so as others gave said, it'll be Croker again. Week 1 of the college season will probably have to stay but with 3 years notice, I'd be hopeful they'd be able to schedule the championship so there'll be no conflict with games again (or is that wishful thinking?).

rare enough that there are replays in semi finals. mountain out of molehill stuff and it should be easily sorted anyway. In any case, after all the posturing and moaning from some quarters, there was only 36k at the replay in Limerick.

salmocab · 04-09-2014 10:15am

Yeah wishful thinking, plus with the crowd that went can't really see it being that successful I went along and to be honest wouldn't bother again the stadium is much too big for the interest that exists unless they really nail down a big draw

jack presley · 04-09-2014 10:16am

MoyVilla9 wrote: »

Who put on the Navy game?

According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, it was an Irish Tourism inititiatve as part of the Gathering but it does say the FAI were involved too.

Speaking of Wikipedia, I love the entry for this year's game. Great stuff...!!

"Yet the timing of the game proved disastrous and irked locals - it interfered with the 2104 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and upset indigenous sports fans annoyed that a crucial Kerry-Mayo showdown had to be forced out of the venue and into another city at short notice. Furthermore, Dubliners themselves were inconvenienced by a stray American parachutist crashing onto a railway line and telephoning for help, while car alarms and heart attacks were triggered by two American fighter jets which, without warning, soared over the normally tranquil city at a low altitude ahead of the game"

Realt Dearg Sec · 04-09-2014 10:19am

jack presley wrote: »

I read it in some article in the Irish Times last week. Can't remember what day but it was around the time of the furore over the replay.

It was saying it was GAA promoting it so as others gave said, it'll be Croker again. Week 1 of the college season will probably have to stay but with 3 years notice, I'd be hopeful they'd be able to schedule the championship so there'll be no conflict with games again (or is that wishful thinking?).

It's pretty much impossible to reschedule those stages of the championship because the finals of the hurling and football have to be played on the first and third Sundays of September (for reasons I don't understand). The problem is that while you could move the semi finals back a bit, that would congest the summer fixtures even more than they already are, and it would in turn put even more pressure on the club championships, which are already badly treated by the GAA. So if this was to become a regular occurrence, every two years, I would anticipate considerable hostility from within the GAA. Nonetheless, I hope it does become regular, I had a great time. The risk of a replay being needed in a semi final is not great enough to warrant passing up an opportunity to host events like the one last week. Not even close to enough. There are plenty of workarounds, it's just that for malcontents like Brolly etc, it's not just about the fixtures, it's about hostility to non-GAA sports, which was made clear from his stupid comments about AF. Most GAA people, whether they like AF or not, will be happy to see something like this become a regular occurrence.

MoyVilla9 · 04-09-2014 10:24am

jack presley wrote: »

According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, it was an Irish Tourism inititiatve as part of the Gathering but it does say the FAI were involved too.

Now this probably is wishful thinking but perhaps the tourism board will put another one on, independent of the GAA. It's a big win for tourism here. American's have shown, in big numbers, that they will travel here for something like this.

johnmcdnl · 04-09-2014 10:35am

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

It's pretty much impossible to reschedule those stages of the championship because the finals of the hurling and football have to be played on the first and third Sundays of September (for reasons I don't understand).

Didn't they move them for the Ryder Cup a few years back?

College Football Penn St/UCF Game confirmed 2014 in Croker

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