Mega match awaits feverish fans

By: Juan López

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - 2:09 AM

Nevada cheerleaders got together and showed their Wolf Pack spirit Friday at Scruples Bar & Grill. Scruples hosted a rally for the Notre Dame football game in which Nevada fans showed up and showed their excitement. The cheerleaders are just a handful of the Nevada fans who will be traveling to South Bend, Ind., to watch the game. Photo by Casey Durkin/The Nevada Sagebrush

*Note: Article has been changed due to factual error. Colin Kaepernick had nothing to do with his family’s obtainment of tickets to the Notre Dame football game. Rick Kaepernick, Colin’s father, donated money to the athletics department, enabling him to buy tickets to the Notre Dame game.

In four days, Nevada will play No. 23 Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind., in what football head coach Chris Ault called, “the biggest game for our university in terms of recognition and national exposure.”

But with that fateful Sept. 5 day being a part of Labor Day weekend, plane ticket prices are almost vomit-inducing while hotel rates are through the roof.

Since prices for a trip to the Midwest total more than $800 on average, Ault said it would be a surprise to see more than a handful of Wolf Pack fans there.

“Whatever (amount of fans) we have there, it’ll be fun and I’m glad people are taking advantage of it because it is a special deal,” he said. “But I don’t know if we’ll be able to hear them.”

KAEPERNICK COUNTRY

One crew that will be well represented is the Kaepernicks.

“Whenever we have a game in the Midwest, my extended family tries to come,” said Colin Kaepernick, Nevada’s starting quarterback, who was born in Milwaukee. “My parents haven’t missed a game since I was able to play my freshman year for the team.”

Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick said his family bought 60 tickets to the Notre Dame football game. At least 55 family members and friends will attend the game. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Kaepernick

Kyle Kaepernick, Colin’s older brother, said 55 members of the Kaepernick clan would be attending the game. But buying the tickets wasn’t just about having the money. Tickets to the game were only sold to those who held Nevada football season tickets.

Here’s where Rick Kaepernick came into play.

“Colin’s dad, Rick, donated money to the athletics department, because if you donate enough money, then they give you the rights to buy more tickets,” Kyle said.

Kyle said most of the tickets had the family sitting in section 114 or 115 (near the end zone) at Notre Dame Stadium. He added that most of the people he knew who were going to the game would also be sitting in these sections.

Aside from watching the game, Kyle said the match would also serve as an impromptu family reunion.

“The family is so large, we have family in California, an uncle in Seattle, just people all over,” he said. “There’s people in the family I haven’t met yet so it’ll be nice to see them there while watching Colin play.”

THE DIE-HARD FANS

Joining the Kaepernick clique will be another mass of Nevada fans — the die hards.

Nevada Director of Ticketing Amy Engelbert said the Wolf Pack was allotted 5,000 Notre Dame game tickets to sell to its own season ticket holders at a face value of $68. She said about 1,900 of those have been sold. The tickets which are alotted to Nevada and not sold will be given back to Notre Dame.

Josh Greenbaum, leader of the Blue Crew, will be traveling to the game and said from posts he’s read on wolfpackchat.com, he thinks the number of Nevada fans there will be much larger.

“I’ve heard anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 of our fans will be there,” he said. “Yeah, the stadium there seats about 80,000 (people), but we’ll have a good group out there.”

Greenbaum said he and five of his friends are set to fly out Thursday and fly back early Sunday morning. His 7 a.m. flight leaving South Bend does not bode well if the Wolf Pack emerges victorious.

“If we win, I’m missing my flight back for sure,” he said. “I’ll probably still be out partying or just hanging out with everyone who came down here.”

Greenbaum said if anyone was having an inkling about going to the game, it’s doable.

“On wolfpackchat.com there’s always threads about people having extra tickets,” he said. “If people want to go, it’ll be hard finding flights and hotels and stuff but it’s definitely possible.”

Although the Nevada fans will be in the thousands for the game, Greenbaum said most of the people he knows who are going “are either alumni or older people.” There are not any student trips headed for Notre Dame that he knows of.

FANS STAYING HOME

While it sounds like those viewing the game in person are some of the luckiest Nevada fans to have ever graced the Earth, don’t feel bad — there are plenty of places to feel the aura of the game in Reno.

Cantina del Lobo on the third floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union is throwing a viewing party starting at 10 a.m. Saturday and is the place to be for Nevada students who are looking for something on campus.

“And when the game starts, if we get too many people in the Cantina, we’re going to move everybody into The Joe theater,” said Casey Stiteler, the Associated Students of the University of Nevada director of programming. “The players will be lifesize if we go in there, but it all depends on how many people show up.”

People searching for a place to watch the game off campus do not have to look far. Red’s Little Waldorf Saloon, which is a stone’s throw from Mackay Stadium, will be playing the game on every TV.

For a place in the Sparks area, Bully’s Sports Bar & Grill on 2955 N. McCarran Blvd. will also be hosting a viewing party.

Finally, Scruples Bar & Grill on 91 W. Plumb Lane, the unofficial partner of the Wolf Pack, will be throwing a viewing party. Scruples often gives away tickets to Nevada football home games and has hosted many viewing parties in the past.

Juan Lopez can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.