Air Forceβs 9-3 football team moved up its trip to the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl and now plans to arrive in Tucson on Christmas afternoon.
Maybe thatβs because it was 5 degrees in Colorado Springs at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Either way, thatβs a good sign for Arizona Bowl founderΒ Ali Farhang, who said the game distributed more than 6,000 tickets in a 24-hour period last week.
βThanks to the generosity of our community, we are working on providing tickets to over 10,000 active, reserve and retired military, Southern Arizona teachers and local first responders,β he said. βThe excitement over this program has overwhelmed us.β
Commanders from all four military bases in Arizona will attend the Dec. 30 game at 3:30 p.m. More? Beer will be sold at Arizona Stadium. A Ferris wheel will be erected in downtown Tucson for a Dec. 29 block party from 3-8 p.m.
Ever optimistic, Farhang believes the Air Force-South Alabama game can draw 30,000 fans, an increase of 10,000 from the 2015 inaugural game. The 3:30 kickoff time on a Friday afternoon is as important as anything.
βWhile there is always room for improvement,β said Farhang, βI am not sure what else we can do for a bowl game in its second year of existence.β
