Ninth annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl

I use this space to encourage you to take advantage of, what I think is a very special event in our state.  This ninth annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl is next Saturday, December 20th at University Stadium.  Full disclosure: I'm not impartial when it comes to this.  I am the executive director of the Bowl.  I am the executive director of the event because I fully believe in the benefits of that game for this entire community.  We are one of only 29 communities in the country who host a college football bowl game; seven communities host more than one and many other places want one.  The reason?  Bowl games like ours are great for the communities in which they are held.  UTEP and Utah State fans will flood into New Mexico next week, spending millions of dollars in our hotels, restaurants, bars and retail outlets on what is traditionally the slowest tourism week of the year.  They will put on, what has been a great, exciting football game on national television, in front of millions of viewers.  It's two good football teams (for the first time in the history of the game, we have a 9-win football team as Utah State is 9-4) with passionate fans, flooding our town. Get out there. Have fun. Show up early. Enjoy the pageantry of the pregame fan fest (which is a gigantic carnival/party). And for crying out loud… for your own sake… don't leave early.