The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ben Maki

Media Credit: Karl Anderson

It's normal to be unsure of what to expect when someone visits Lubbock for the first time.

For the ESPN "College GameDay" crew, all it took was one weekend of exposure to Texas Tech football fans to make them want to make another trip.

From Lubbock being the flattest place they ever visited, to the creative signs in the crowd, the ESPN "College GameDay" crew enjoyed its stay in Lubbock and hopes to return in the near future.

With the Tech-Texas game highlighting the week in college football, the show announced it was making its first-ever visit to Lubbock on Oct. 26.

Many things stood out to the on-air talent, which brought something they had not experienced in the show's 13-year history.

After this weekend the show covered Texas three times in the last four weeks - once in Austin.

Host Chris Fowler said the involvement and participation from Tech fans was overwhelming considering "College GameDay" was the place to be in Lubbock.

"I think in Austin, it's much more laid back," he said. "We've been there before-Austin. They feel like there's a lot going on. It's a little too cool to show up for GameDay. We have our hardcore group there. We have a nice setting on the lawn beneath the tower, but it doesn't match the frenzy of a place where it's fresh and it's new, and football is clearly king right now."

Fans were advised to show up to the set near the Engineering key at 3:45 p.m. Friday. They also were advised to show up at approximately 7 a.m. for the Saturday morning taping.

Fowler said some of his colleagues told him Friday's crowd was equivalent to a crowd that usually shows up Saturday mornings.

One thing that turned heads were the signs.

From signs that promoted quarterback Graham Harrell and receiver Michael Crabtree's candidacy for the Heisman Trophy to signs that bashed anything burnt orange, analyst Lee Corso said they were some of the best he had ever seen.

"The enthusiastic crowd was great, but I said on the air that we've been doing this for 13 years, it was the most and best signs we've ever seen," he said. "The signs were creative. The enthusiasm was great and the electricity in the crowd was wonderful. This is a great experience for us to come to Texas Tech."

Adding to the attention of Saturday's game, former Tech basketball coach Bob Knight was on hand Saturday to help the crew pick their featured games. While Knight chose Tech to beat Texas, Corso followed in his footsteps by picking Tech in his unique and popular way. He wore the Raider Red mascot head with guns in the air as the crowd behind him was as loud as it had been all weekend.

Mike Ruhlman, stage director for the show, compared visiting Lubbock to visiting Kentucky last year for the Florida matchup.

"When you come to a school that has not traditionally received a lot of national praise - Texas Tech's had a very good football program in recent years, but before that probably not on most people's national maps," he said. "When you go to a school like that, it's a lot of fun. They're always really glad to see us. They want to show the nation what's going on because probably a lot of people around the country haven't really experienced a lot of what's going on at Texas Tech football."

Since "College GameDay" does not choose its next stop until the end of the week, Corso, Fowler and Ruhlman said the next stop in Lubbock is unknown and it depends on how well Tech can keep playing.

"I'd love to come back," said Desmond Howard, a contributor to the show. "You can't beat this. This is why we do what we do. The weather - November 1st? Are you kidding me? This is great. Definitely look forward to coming back."

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