Clock ticking on Bulls' bid to get passports in time for International Bowl

[Cow Pie]

:Duh

I wish we had just went to the St. Pete Bowl...

Did USF get invited to the St Pete Bowl and turned it down?? I'm confused...or do people not understand we get INVITED to bowl games not OUR CHOICE of bowl games

No we did not get an invite... just lamenting at the stupidity of the Big East for putting us into a bowl where we don't really belong and are not ready to travel to it.

[Mag Pie]

Not sure if you can expedite it mid-process.  That's something you pay for up front.  I may be wrong though.

Yes, you can.  I called up to ask.  They told me to give it till tuesday or wednesday, and if not, they can expedite it and overnight it to me.

It took me 6 wks to get mine expedited, they are saying possibly 4 wks, that's too late for this game.

Per their website expediting is 2 weeks, so the players will get their passports in time.  6 weeks is not expedited service.  Shoot, regular is 4-6 weeks and people are getting them back in 2-3weeks.  And this is recenrtly as in the last 2 months, not sure when you did yours.

[Greg Auman]

Unless you want every Big East team to spend $20,000 to get passports lined up in the possibility of going to Toronto, USF is doing what any school would do after getting invited to Toronto. It'll be fine.

[Brad]

Exactly what I wanted to type earlier, but I was on cellphone and didn't bother.

[Brad]

Funny how this stuff just gets whipped up.

From Sporting News.com:

USF May Be Tripped Up By "International" Part of International Bowl

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Posted By Andy Hutchins 11:15 AM

Leave it to the University of South Florida, a school that will defend its own geographic confusion to the death -- it's located in Tampa, which is nowhere near "South Florida" by any Floridian's standards -- to be the first team to have trouble with the International Bowl's Canadian location.

    USF is rushing to expedite passports for nearly 200 people, from players to band members, so the outfit can make it to the not-so-frozen tundra of the Rogers Centre.

    Coach Jim Leavitt got word Sunday afternoon they were heading to the International Bowl in Toronto and had to have his team's applications out by Thursday at the latest in order to cross the border.

It seems like USF personnel were scrambling to get things done by Thursday; when dealing with passports, whatever date is "at the latest" is always too late for comfort. These quotes, presumably gathered Thursday for an article that ran Friday, bear that out: "Although the applications are in the mail, there is no guarantee that the players will have them in time, Circuit Court Clerk Pat Frank said. "We're not showing favoritism, we're doing customer service. This is a unique situation and if its legal and we can help, that's what we'll do."

So there's no way of being entirely sure that USF will make it to their bowl game with passports in hand. The good news, in that respect, is that they won't have any problems getting there: Canada allows U.S. citizens to enter the country with less specialized documentation. It's the return trip that will be trouble, thanks to new rules that came into effect this summer.

The Bulls will probably get their passports and all will be well. (These things have a way of working themselves out.) But forgive me if I don't buy coach Jim Leavitt's excuse for the mismanagement of this now-embarrassing situation:

    "It's a process, but it is exciting knowing why they are getting a passport,'' said Leavitt, who already has a passport. "South Florida is going International. How about that? That's good stuff."

It's also good stuff for the blogosphere, Jim. And that's not good for you.

Link

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"Mismanagement of this now-embarassing situation?"

What is this guy thinking?

[Triple B]

The Bulls will probably get their passports and all will be well. (These things have a way of working themselves out.) But forgive me if I don't buy coach Jim Leavitt's excuse for the mismanagement of this now-embarrassing situation:

"It's a process, but it is exciting knowing why they are getting a passport,'' said Leavitt, who already has a passport. "South Florida is going International. How about that? That's good stuff."

How is that supposed to be an excuse?? Absolutely horrible writing .... but I think I see why:

The Sporting Blog is a site that features the stories you likely won't find in box scores or headlines. We welcome you to join us daily as we attempt to make you laugh while possibly insulting your intelligence. Sports are entertainment; we treat them as such.

It's obvious he's trying to humor us with his journalistic ineptitude .... and the insulting our intelligence goes without saying.

[ajusf16]

What is sad is that we allow them to take 6 weeks to process a piece of paper, there is no reason it should take that long.

[Andy Hutchins]

As the author of <a href=http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/47425/usf_may_be_tripped_up_by_international_part_of_international_bowl>this</a>, I just wanted to give Bulls fans a chance to yell <i>at</i> me here instead of just yelling <i>about</i> me.

Thanks for reading, too.

[bigworm]

"I just hope they get their passports and win that game," said Frank, who helped quarterback the processing of passports. "We were so happy to do it. They're excited and nervous. When you take off the padding, they really looked liked fragile kids."

Must have watched the Rutgers, Pitt and Miami games.

This isn't an issue, they will all get passports. 

[No_Willie_Jokes_Yet]

I went through a "service" and got my passport and a visa to Brazil in under 8 days. These things can get done quickly.