Chapter 57 Season Opening
Texas, Arlington, AT&T Arena.
This 80,000-seat venue is the home of the NFL team the Dallas Cowboys and is also the venue for a series of NCAA bowl games and championship games.
Today, the curtain of the 2016-2017 NCAA season will slowly begin here.
The new NFL season is about to kick off next Thursday, and the professional competition has not yet started. The NCAA competition, which debuts one step ahead of schedule, will attract the attention of the United States——
Since 2009, AT&T Arena has been responsible for hosting the annual NCAA opener, known as the "Cowboys Kick-off Classic", and has gradually evolved into a new event, announcing the arrival of a new football season, just like a carnival.
Every year, AT&T Arena negotiates with the NCAA to invite different topical matchups to kick off the season. It may not be a strong matchup or a matchup between seeded teams, but ratings and focus will definitely be guaranteed.
Last year, the Alabama Crimson Tide stormed against the Wisconsin Badgers, and the Crimson Tide storm defeated their opponents "35:17" to start a strong season.
This year, the Alabama Crimson Tide were once again invited to face the USC Trojans, a traditional powerhouse in the Pac-12 Conference.
Although there is no historical connection between the two teams, as traditional sports schools, they both have a broad and deep fan base——
Ratings guaranteed.
Moreover, on September 3rd, Saturday, the Cowboys Kick-off Classic is about to debut. It is the weekend. Countless fans from California and Alabama went to Texas to watch the game live, and ticket sales were booming.
According to box office statistics, this is the second time since AT&T Arena hosted the annual Cowboys Kick-Off Classic that ticket sales have exceeded 80,000.
The number of seats in AT&T Arena is 80,000. In order to cope with special circumstances, part of the stands can be dismantled to add seats, increasing the capacity to 10,000 seats. This work is currently being done at AT&T Arena, which also means that the audience attending today Probably close to 90,000 people.
The bustling crowd surged in, looking at a gorgeous red——
The Crimson Tide's jerseys are red; the Trojans' jerseys are also red.
The red color of the Crimson Tide Storm is red; the Trojans are closer to reddish brown. The biggest difference between the two is the shorts. The Crimson Tide Storm are white and the Trojans are gold.
The problem is, fans don't wear shorts.
As a result, you can see endless red layers surging upwards one after another, and the local Cowboys fans at AT&T Arena felt nauseated——
Cowboys jerseys are blue.
Since ancient times, red and blue have appeared... not as lovers anyway.
Not only the fans, but also ABC TV station, which has won the rights to broadcast the season opener, and countless media are already in place to cheer for the arrival of the football season. The scene of huge crowds is not inferior to the Super Bowl.
Nervous, half expecting.
Then, four buses slowly approached and stopped at the entrance of the players tunnel.
The reporters standing behind the iron railings set up their guns and guns one after another. The on-site host of ABC TV station quickly approached with the camera team, preparing to start the interview immediately. The atmosphere of the live broadcast quietly filled the air.
When people mention the Alabama Crimson Tide Storm, there is no doubt that they are a strong team competing for the NCAA first-tier championship. Every move can attract attention, but after Derrick Henry turned professional this season, how will Shaban keep the ball? The team's competitiveness continues to attack the championship, which has also become the focus of everyone's curiosity. At the beginning of the new season, the defending champion Crimson Tide Storm deserve to be ranked as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA. However, the ranking will change at any time in the following season. Whether the current seed ranking can be maintained until the end of the season is the key.
Exactly four months ago, spring training camp ended. The Crimson Tide once again defeated the Clemson Tigers, another competitor for the championship in the new season, in the warm-up match. People were hotly discussing the team's embarrassment of a clean sheet in the first half. There is a question mark on the season, and people are also talking about the team's No. 23 who suddenly appeared in the second half to turn the tide and reverse the victory.
In this game, No. 23 was completely red-handed and completely destroyed the Tigers' defense. Three large advances of more than 20 yards in the second half were simply a weapon to attack the city and make people tremble.
Although some people say that it is just a warm-up match, there is no need to take it seriously. It is 6102 years ago, who still takes the data of the warm-up match seriously.
Some people also say that the Clemson Tigers' defense is a joke. Others' failure to gain 300 yards on the ground is not due to lack of ability but lack of interest. The Crimson Tide Storm only rely on one point to gain data, but it exposes their overall lack of confidence in the offense. .
But it has to be said that No. 23 jumped out of the cracks of the stone like a monkey. The Crimson Tide Storm are good at ground attack and training running backs. In addition, the team continues the strong defensive lineup from last season. It is indisputable. Shaban's team is still a strong contender for the championship.
The only unknown number here is precisely the number 23 with no information——
There was so little information that a thin piece of A4 paper couldn't even be filled in. Height and weight were left alone, and the data from warm-up matches and intra-team matches seemed to mock any idiot who used this data for analysis.
The most outrageous and funniest thing is that because the registration time for the 23rd was relatively late, the Crimson Tide Storm did not submit photos immediately, resulting in no photos of the 23rd in the NCAA system.
Such a situation is absolutely impossible in the NFL, but it is not uncommon in the NCAA where the number of personnel is seriously exceeded and layoffs may occur at any time. Anyway, it will be made up when the data is updated in the new season.
Therefore, a small number of people who did not watch the live broadcast of the warm-up game on ESPN really did not know the true face of No. 23. In addition, they wore helmets throughout the game. Another group of people who watched the live broadcast of the warm-up game on ESPN talked about No. 23. I was frothing at the mouth, but I couldn't remember what No. 23 looked like.
In an era where social networks are everywhere, this rare sense of mystery is also incredible, adding some legend to No. 23.
Looking forward to it, but not expecting it.
Emotions are so contradictory. The expectation is because I believe in Shaban's vision and ability; there are 10,000 reasons for not expecting, which are simply too numerous to count.
So, can No. 23 shoulder Derrick Henry's banner and continue to lead the Crimson Tide's offense to the championship?
Confused. curious. question. Explore. provocative. contempt.
With different moods and emotions, this year's Cowboys started the classic and it sparked a lot of talk, and even the NFL followed suit.
It has to be said that the NCAA has a good calculation. They don't care about making stars or the performance of No. 23. Anyway, a series of fierce promotion and marketing operations have made them a lot of money.
No, the tickets are sold out. It is inevitable for the Cowboys to open a 90,000-person venue for the first time in eight years since the classic. There are countless spectators at the door who cannot buy tickets but are still reluctant to leave and hold up signs to ask for tickets.
At the same time, ABC TV station, which has obtained the exclusive live broadcast rights, has also stood on the front line——
Twenty-three, twenty-three, twenty-three.
Snap.
The bus door opened, and after waiting for a moment, a figure appeared unhurriedly.
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(End of this chapter)