Odd thought on USC/UCLA and the U

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TruDomGopher

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My immediate reaction when I heard the news was this: This will work out OK for Minnesota because of airport access. Everybody in the chattering classes talking about geography and travel, but both USC and UCLA are conveniently located near LAX. And the flight is shorter than many of the bus trips schools make.

It's schools like Oregon or Washington that would be a pain. You'd have to charter or transfer into Eugene from PDX, or drive from Portland,, and UW is a solid hour+ from the airport even if there's no traffic. Good luck with that "no traffic" thing in Seattle these days.

There is an advantage to being urban and near an airport in the modern era.. And, of course, being smack-dab in the geographic middle of conference now.
 


737s and A320s can and do fly out of Eugene Airport. Maybe some weight resfrictions. Seattle traffic does truly stink and is up there with LA or Chicago but timing is everything. If they don’t travel during AM/PM rush hour ~30 minutes probably from UW to SeaTac.

The main thing with the travel IMO is not travel time per se but more the time zone differences. It’s a small factor, maybe as significant as “air dehydration” as discussed by Fleck prior to Oregon State…but sleep is a thing. Traveling east for an early game could be brutal for some.



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Today, the 18 mile trip from Sea-Tac to UW is 20 minutes. Hardly ever more than 30. I live north of Seattle and the 43 mile trip through Seattle to the airport rarely takes more than 55 minutes. But, if there’s an accident there aren’t many options to go around.

Also, Paine Field in Everett is adding flights. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alaska Air added direct service with Minneapolis. You can book it now, but you have two other stops.

And yes, Seattle traffic is bad. It seems like rush hour is all day long. Thankfully, remote meetings are now accepted practice.
 

WAGopher said:
Today, the 18 mile trip from Sea-Tac to UW is 20 minutes. Hardly ever more than 30. I live north of Seattle and the 43 mile trip through Seattle to the airport rarely takes more than 55 minutes. But, if there’s an accident there aren’t many options to go around.

Also, Paine Field in Everett is adding flights. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alaska Air added direct service with Minneapolis. You can book it now, but you have two other stops.

And yes, Seattle traffic is bad. It seems like rush hour is all day long. Thankfully, remote meetings are now accepted practice.
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SeaTac itself sucks. It's a terrible airport. Denver is also horrible.
 

TruDomGopher said:
My immediate reaction when I heard the news was this: This will work out OK for Minnesota because of airport access. Everybody in the chattering classes talking about geography and travel, but both USC and UCLA are conveniently located near LAX. And the flight is shorter than many of the bus trips schools make.

It's schools like Oregon or Washington that would be a pain. You'd have to charter or transfer into Eugene from PDX, or drive from Portland,, and UW is a solid hour+ from the airport even if there's no traffic. Good luck with that "no traffic" thing in Seattle these days.

There is an advantage to being urban and near an airport in the modern era.. And, of course, being smack-dab in the geographic middle of conference now.
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Driving time between SeaTac international and Redmond WA is estimated to be slightly more than 30 minutes. Eugene OR would be more of a challenge but all the PAC 12 seem to find a way of doing it. This no more of an obstacle than getting to Penn State. None issue…
 

BBEERMAN said:
Driving time between SeaTac international and Redmond WA is estimated to be slightly more than 30 minutes. Eugene OR would be more of a challenge but all the PAC 12 seem to find a way of doing it. This no more of an obstacle than getting to Penn State. None issue…
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Good point. Happy Valley is in the middle of nowhere.
 



Probably was already said, but at a minimum for team sports, maybe even most individual sports too, they charter flights.
 

TruDomGopher said:
My immediate reaction when I heard the news was this: This will work out OK for Minnesota because of airport access. Everybody in the chattering classes talking about geography and travel, but both USC and UCLA are conveniently located near LAX. And the flight is shorter than many of the bus trips schools make.

It's schools like Oregon or Washington that would be a pain. You'd have to charter or transfer into Eugene from PDX, or drive from Portland,, and UW is a solid hour+ from the airport even if there's no traffic. Good luck with that "no traffic" thing in Seattle these days.

There is an advantage to being urban and near an airport in the modern era.. And, of course, being smack-dab in the geographic middle of conference now.
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What airport are you talking about?:
Screenshot_20220704-134424.png
 

WAGopher said:
Today, the 18 mile trip from Sea-Tac to UW is 20 minutes. Hardly ever more than 30. I live north of Seattle and the 43 mile trip through Seattle to the airport rarely takes more than 55 minutes. But, if there’s an accident there aren’t many options to go around.

Also, Paine Field in Everett is adding flights. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alaska Air added direct service with Minneapolis. You can book it now, but you have two other stops.

And yes, Seattle traffic is bad. It seems like rush hour is all day long. Thankfully, remote meetings are now accepted practice.
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We need to establish a bona fide Gopher bar in Seattle...or has Petoskey's filled that void? Was there for the Iowa game last year, good time.
 

TruDomGopher said:
My immediate reaction when I heard the news was this: This will work out OK for Minnesota because of airport access. Everybody in the chattering classes talking about geography and travel, but both USC and UCLA are conveniently located near LAX. And the flight is shorter than many of the bus trips schools make.

It's schools like Oregon or Washington that would be a pain. You'd have to charter or transfer into Eugene from PDX, or drive from Portland,, and UW is a solid hour+ from the airport even if there's no traffic. Good luck with that "no traffic" thing in Seattle these days.

There is an advantage to being urban and near an airport in the modern era.. And, of course, being smack-dab in the geographic middle of conference now.
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Geographically for distance our location is great. Penn St to anywhere can't be fun. USC/UCLA to Penn State .... they should get T Shirts for that trip....that's ugly. I wonder who the next four schools will be and how often these teams gotta make marathon trips...scheduling will be a discussion.
Times, they are a changing.
 



PMWinSTP said:
We need to establish a bona fide Gopher bar in Seattle...or has Petoskey's filled that void? Was there for the Iowa game last year, good time.
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Petoskey’s would be the most likely to gear up for the Gophers. They are a pretty good Vike’s bar and cater to midwesterners. Heck, any bar that has Walleye featured on the menu has to be Golden. If UW joins the B1G, I bet Petoskey’s will be the place.
 

PMWinSTP said:
We need to establish a bona fide Gopher bar in Seattle...or has Petoskey's filled that void? Was there for the Iowa game last year, good time.
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I go to Petoskey's several times a year. It's great, and I have a good time, but would be open to options. I live across the Puget Sound so after ferries and Uber or driving its a good hour plus to get there. If UW joins maybe there will be a B1G bar right downtown. ALOT of Midwest transplants here.
 

Going to Oregon and Washington is that much of a concern. For the once every 6 yrs or so the Gophers play there, people will make a trip out of it for sure. The plus side is that flying into Mpls is easy for their fans to come visit us. Less so for Madison, Iowa City, Champaign, etc.
 

TruthSeeker said:
SeaTac itself sucks. It's a terrible airport. Denver is also horrible.
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Outside of the baggage claim speed, Denver is one of the nicer airports in the US, in my personal travel experience.
 

NorthernLakesGopher said:
I go to Petoskey's several times a year. It's great, and I have a good time, but would be open to options. I live across the Puget Sound so after ferries and Uber or driving its a good hour plus to get there. If UW joins maybe there will be a B1G bar right downtown. ALOT of Midwest transplants here.
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Been out there many times. Maybe some place in SLU? Or adopt a brewery in Ballard with a bunch of TVs? I feel like one has a connection to MN.
 

WriterGoph said:
Outside of the baggage claim speed, Denver is one of the nicer airports in the US, in my personal travel experience.
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That place is enormous. I feel like every time I land there the plane taxis for like 20 minutes...
 

PMWinSTP said:
That place is enormous. I feel like every time I land there the plane taxis for like 20 minutes...
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Very spread out for sure. Good thing the trains are solid. They're doing a major renovation at DIA now in the main terminal. Gonna be really nice under that Teflon tent when it's done.
 

WriterGoph said:
Very spread out for sure. Good thing the trains are solid. They're doing a major renovation at DIA now in the main terminal. Gonna be really nice under that Teflon tent when it's done.
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Rivals Houston...that place is sprawling. It's like they had all that land and decided..."Let's just spread everything out."
 

People really worried the gophers are having layovers? Those charter flights don’t stop in Denver and Portland before landing in Eugene.
 


TruDomGopher said:
My immediate reaction when I heard the news was this: This will work out OK for Minnesota because of airport access. Everybody in the chattering classes talking about geography and travel, but both USC and UCLA are conveniently located near LAX. And the flight is shorter than many of the bus trips schools make.

It's schools like Oregon or Washington that would be a pain. You'd have to charter or transfer into Eugene from PDX, or drive from Portland,, and UW is a solid hour+ from the airport even if there's no traffic. Good luck with that "no traffic" thing in Seattle these days.

There is an advantage to being urban and near an airport in the modern era.. And, of course, being smack-dab in the geographic middle of conference now.
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You are super mixed up on your West Coast geography.

Husky stadium is right in the middle of Seattle and about a 20 minute drive from SEA without traffic. It is also probably the most picturesque football stadium in the country (right on the water a la the Giant's stadium in SF).

The Rose Bowl is supposedly a 35 minute drive from LAX but the only way that would happen is if you travel at 3am. On a bad day it takes 2 hours, average day would be about 90 minutes. The Colosseum is marginally closer, but can still be a 90 minute drive in rush hour.

There's some chatter about UCLA moving to SOFI stadium which is right by the airport (and closer to UCLA's campus), but I haven't seen any real movement toward that outcome.
 
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PMWinSTP said:
Been out there many times. Maybe some place in SLU? Or adopt a brewery in Ballard with a bunch of TVs? I feel like one has a connection to MN.
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I am all for going to the Seattle Fish Markets and tasting some local seafood.

Does anyone have a suggestion for the best seafood eatery?
 

When I lived in Seattle in 2007-08, the UMN alumni base was large, young, and largely not at all proud to have done their undergrad in Minneapolis. Had this changed?

Also, at that time, what passed for a Gopher bar was a pizza joint in Ballard that I don't think is still around.
 


I'm excited to visit LA for a Gophers game. I used to live walking distance from the Rose Bowl and it will be fun to go back. I also live in Oregon and I would love if I could go to Eugene/Seattle every couple years for a Gophers game.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Ivar's
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Ivar’s is legendary with reasonable prices. We frequent their Mukilteo Landing location. Duke’s on Lake Union is superb for upscale dining, Chinooks at Salmon Bay is a lunch favorite, and Salty’s on Alki Beach is good with a spectacular view of Seattle from across the bay (a must do at least once).
 

Are there any good eateries right inside the fish markets? I love fresh tuna sushi and oysters.
 

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