From the moment it was announced following the conference championship week back in December to the moment I arrived in Toronto, I was skeptical of whether or not the International Bowl was a worthwhile bowl game for college football.
After my three days in Toronto, my skepticism disappeared, leaving only a realization that the International Bowl has the potential to become one of the top tier bowl games.
Does it have the history or will it ever reach the level of the Rose, Orange, Cotton or Sugar Bowls? Of course not. But it is already ahead of some bowls that have been around much longer than the two years the International Bowl has existed.
For instance, I went to the Motor City Bowl in Detroit this year and had nowhere near the experience that I had in Toronto. For those of you who are thinking it is because I am a student of Ball State and would thus enjoy its bowl game more, know this: I grew up in West Lafayette and am as much a Boilermaker as a Cardinal.
Toronto is considered by many to be one of the best cities in the world and is the largest city to host an NCAA bowl game. The potential this bowl has to grow is why the International Bowl should be here to stay.
The attendance for this year's game rose by nearly 4,000 from the previous year to 31,455 showing that the game is growing. Most bowls have 50,000 fans or more attend so the International Bowl still has a long way to go, but it is on its way.
The problem this year wasn't the number of people who traveled to support their teams. Both Rutgers University and Ball State had a good turnout. The locals were the missing link. There simply weren't many Toronto natives in the crowd.
The Executive Director of the International Bowl Ken Hoffman said after the game that he must work harder to get the word out to the locals. He said after the first International Bowl a lot of people told him they would have gone if they had only known it was in town.
The awareness and knowledge of the game will come with time. The Canadians who did go to the game were very passionate and screamed continuously.
I've even heard one story that a group of Canadians were yelling to Ball State fans asking if they knew the "Boom goes the dynamite" guy. Once they found out one member of the crowd was a former roommate of Brian Collins, they proceeded to treat him as a mini-celebrity.
Write to Levin at levintblack@gmail.com
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