Mike Stuben

Driving in Manhattan is not too crazy. Most of the roads are in a grid system. It is just a hassle at times. Parking is hard to find or insanely expensive. And traffic getting into or out of the city can be gridlock. I always thought it would be scary crazy, but it wasn't that bad. The train is a fine idea, but don't over pay tricking yourself into thinking you can't drive in the city.

The everyday prices are up on all routes. The airlines have done a great job reducing capacity. Last night I booked my wife and me for a wedding in Indy.... normally a route I can get for $185 ish.... I had to book into Louisville for $221 each .... I had been watching it for a couple months, waiting for a sale, it just never came.... we got under a month to the wedding and I just had to book..... I think there will be sales to Philly later, and I will share .... but this was a good enough deal that it deserved to be shared.

Mods - I know this belongs in the travel forum, but the deal is only valid today, so if possible, can you leave on the main board for a day before moving to the travel forum (so more people might see it). Spirit sent me a $50 off code (the code is 50OFF with OFF in all caps). The code will only work today. They fly Tampa to Atlantic City non-stop ..... and Atlantic City is close to Philly and honestly, many fans will stay there for the Temple game anyways. With that code (and date flexibility, I got the fare down to $117 .... you don't see the $50 coming off the price until the screen where you pay, so when you see fares on the other screens, remember you final price will be $50 cheaper.) Even if you aren't date flexible, it is easy to book under $150 with this code. Now let me tell you why I won't book this deal for me...... #1 Spirit is a very un-customer friendly airline. Everything costs, including using the overhead bins, so unless you can pack all you need in a backpack, there will be more fees. and don't get me started about the legroom. #2 Renting a car in Atlantic City will cost more than renting a car in Philly .... got to consider this into the deal. Also - for those unaware. ... Atlantic City is not like Vegas in terms of hotel rooms ... they are not cheap, Good parts of the deal other than the price ... is the fact that it is a non-stop flight. Think of this as a great deal for the backpacking hostel sort of crowd. The deal isn't for everyone ... but it is a great deal for some of our fans and I wanted to share so that we can have as many Bulls fans in the stands as possible.

For anyone who is an avid golfer and wants to get in 18 holes while on the road at the Nevada game, here is a deal, but you must book it in the next 2 days: http://www.travelzoo.com/local-deals/Reno/Other/19338

Dogma posted while I was typing. .. thanks for all that great info ... looks like all good news on the soccer ticket front!

One quick thing to note about the timing of soccer season tickets, remember, volleyball, baseball, softball and the two soccers season tickets are mostly general admission (yes, some of those sports have a very small section of reserved premium seats) .... with general admission tickets the time tickets go on sale is less important. 1 general admission ticket bought 3 months before the season will lead to the same seats as 1 season ticket bought 2 days before the season starts. I only mention this because, in the end our soccer team will have great support no matter when the tickets go on sale. Be sure to ask if unused tickets can be exchanged (they could in the past) .. makes season tickets even a more valuable option. If you haven't been to a soccer game or volleyball match, be sure to make it out this year. Awesome value for your entertainment dollar, and more chances to support your school.

Seats The bleachers are game day sales only Are there actual bleachers inthe new Sun Dome? 3rd level ... and bench seating may be a better description. And they are benches with backs, sort of like the old Tampa Stadium (for those old enough to remember). Sort of like the benches at the new soccer stadium, I think down the road it would be pretty easy to switch them over to chairs, when the crowds for games are often using those seats. With so many amazing new facilities, decisions had to be made because you can't say yes to every possible option.

They have until midnight, not sure which time zone, but I would guess Pacific. There is no reason to wait until the last moment, unless they are still deciding.

I thought the same thing back when I was a student and the rec center had the huge renovation (where it more than doubled in size) aprox 1994 ish. That unpainted concrete front area dates to then and was not touched in the latest renovations (if I can picture this correctly in my mind). As a side note, that renovation that I just mentioned was the same time the Coral was built, which took the time our student athletes had official practices in the rec center way down (for our basketball teams, volleyball and the spirt squads). - until this year where volleyball and women's basketball moved back in for just one year as the Sun Dome was rennovated.

Are the GJ section seats starting to go? Only about a dozen gone when we selected on Thursday. I'm GJ, and was happy with what was left, but I am guessing that they will be going fast this week.

Today I picked out my USF men's and women's basketball seats. I wanted to say how great the dome looked, and what an incredible value USF tickets are right now. On the men's side, first level seats (end court) start at $250 with only a Herd donation .... just 2 years ago, those seats in a run down tired Sun Dome cost $416 each with a Green Jacket donation. $99 season tickets work out to under $6 a game. And those seats are pretty darn good. On the women's side, $60 for a level 1 side court season ticket is such a great deal, it is almost obsurd. If you happen to be a donor, then you can get a club season ticket for the same price. If you consider yourself a Bulls fan, and you only have football season tickets, it is time to expand your horizons. Give a call to John Lewis at 813-974-7492 and add some basketball tickets to your account. Getting off my soap box now.

I'll go even a step further. UF has been good to us in that it has let us push back the years on the games and agreed to raise the payout of the second game to the current fair market value. While I would love UF to come to Tampa, it will be a long way off. (maybe if FSU ends up in the same conference, allowing them a non-conference road game every other year...since FSU and UG games balance out to one lost home game a year, or if UGA moves back to the campuses for some reason or another) Miami and FSU too. Always have a ton of respect for Miami signing that 6 game contract, and I appreciate the home and home from FSU.

Lets start with the positives, we are at an all time peak in our Men's Basketball program, and the new and improved dome will be great. Being in the Big East, we have had home schedules packed with UConn, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Pitt and Georgetown's of the world. We have not sold out a home game at the Sun Dome since joining the Big East (I'd blame me for that one) ..... You can see when we play Cuse or UConn how many of their fans fill the seats. I am sure the first teir of options were Florida or Florida State. When those didn't pan out, we wanted an opponent who would lead to the most ticket sales. Big name, but not great at basketball school do not sell a ton of tickets (look back at our crowd from the Nebraska game a few years back for an example.) I assume UCF will bring about 1,000 to the game (which will be a huge help) as long as they don't have a football game on the same day. When you add their thousand, to the crowd who will be there for USF (either because they think we are good, want to see the new dome, see UCF as a rival, or to celebrate the success of last year) this should be enough to have a very nice crowd. What I am about to say is 100% my opinion and not a department philosophy..... Do I want a geographic rival? Yes. Do I want UCF to be that rival? No. When UCF was in a different conference did USF have the ability to keep them from being that rival? Yes Do we still have that power? No So, they are going to be our rival (at least until one of the two changes conferences) ... we might as well embrace that fact and collect as many dollars as possible in the process. We just need to make sure that if some other conference comes calling and has room for one Florida school, that we are in line in front of UCF.

Careful with that. I don't think that it's legit. The Grand Sierra has it's own website where you can book rooms. They do have condos that people can buy, but they can only use them for a couple of weeks a year, otherwise the hotel rents them out like normal rooms. The owners can't rent those rooms out. I don't want to see is one of you guys get taken advantage of. Mustang, I appreciate you looking out for us, and I have no doubts your warning was meant with very good intentions. My research seems to reaffirm that they are legit, please share your sources for your thoughts as to why they are not. Here is my source: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hotel-deals/1354689-grand-sierra-reno-2-free-nights-sun-thur-through-july-31-2012-a.html Note the two free nights are only valid in the summer, long before we get there..... Easy way to check would be to simply call the hotel and ask them (not just the person who answers the phone, but maybe a sales or marketing person). You could also mention the rate from the site I mentioned and ask the hotel to match it (but realize, as noted in the link above).... many people note that renoluxuryresort.com not only has the best prices, but also access to the best rooms (since they were once condos, they may be nicer than hotel rooms). While being careful is important, I still think this is a great deal. Here is a yelp review of the discount room site: http://www.yelp.com/biz/reno-luxury-resort-reno Kayak also seems to consider it legit: http://www.kayak.com/Reno-Hotels.Indy's_Hotel%7CCondo_at_The_Grand_Sierra_Resort.416653.ksp Also look for promo codes for the site I mentioned, (like they have one out there now on their facebook page) .... see if you can save even more money.

Right you are .... still have the pain of Chucky's mixed free throws that year 1994-95 - NIT Record: 18-12, 5-7 Metro 13-4 Home, 5-7 Away, 0-1 Neutral Lineup: Chucky Atkins G, Jerome Robinson F, Jesse Salters F, Donzel Rush C, Eric Kinslow/ Greg Summers G DATE USF W/L OPP Nov 25 86 Appalachian State W 71 Nov 29 88 at Florida State L 95 Dec 3 85 at Baylor W 80 Dec 6 70 Jacksonville L 71 Dec 10 89 Central Florida W 64 Dec 17 71 at Jacksonville W 67 Dec 20 73 at Pepperdine W 60 Dec 28 87 Baylor W 75 Dec 30 74 Hartford W 56 Jan 2 57 UNC Wilmington W 38 Jan 7 58 at Va. Commonwealth * L 74 Jan 14 66 UNC Charlotte * L 72 Jan 18 64 UAB W 58 Jan 21 84 at Florida Atlantic W 70 Jan 28 80 Va. Commonwealth * W (OT) 71 Jan 30 57 Tennessee L 62 Feb 2 65 at Louisville * L 66 Feb 4 72 at UNC Charlotte * W 69 Feb 9 64 Louisville * L 79 Feb 11 68 Virginia Tech * W 66 Feb 16 61 at Tulane * L 78 Feb 18 75 at Southern Miss * L 77 Feb 23 97 Tulane * W 64 Feb 25 64 at Virginia Tech * L 74 Mar 2 80 Southern Miss * W 66 Mar 4 75 SE Missouri State W 48 Mar 10 64 vs. Tulane # L 73 Mar 16 74 St. John’s $ W 67 Mar 20 75 Coppin State $ W 59 Mar 22 50 at Marquette $ L (OT) 57 Greg Auman noted the double dip with JU that season also (which I forgot) .... so half credit to him .... but my memory was more impressive since I am sitting at a beach bar in the Dominican Republic and he probably is looking these things up. In the game at JU that year, there was a long delay becuase during one of the media time outs a cheerleader was dropped on the court and got injured. I remember listening to the game on the radio in my dorm room with Jim Louk on the call, probably with John Gerdes as the analyst.

Small tid bit of history ... when I was a student at USF (93-96) we played a home and home with Baylor all in one season. Pretty sure we beat them twice ... which means it was probably 94-95, because that was the NIT elite 8 year. I'm pretty sure that is the last time we did that with a non-conference opponent.

Wanted to share a quick deal .... I found the Grand Sierra for $69 a night while we are in town. http://renoluxuryresort.com What I think is happening here is during the real estate bubble hotel rooms in cool places like Reno made some floors into Condo. Then the bubble burst. I think someone is taking lots of those condo rooms and selling them as hotel rooms again. I believe the site is legit and a great deal for those who want to stay at the team hotel.

Got to tip my cap to Coach Barr. He won consistently. He won the right way. His players did well in the classroom and in the community. He certainly has earned the right to go out on his terms, and if that time is now, then I hope he enjoys his retirement. Thank you Coach Barr for all you have done for USF Athletics and your program. Clearly I have no input on this, but I also think his assistant Mike Henderson would be an outstanding choice to continue the great success of our men's tennis program. (we have some outstanding assistant coaches at USF, many of whom are ready to be division I head coaches)