FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 18, 2014
Contact: Al Botta
T: 516/967-8993
E: al@collegefootballquest.com
A QUEST AND AN OBSESSION: TWO FRIENDS HIT THE ROAD FOR YEAR 7
Trip Is Part of Their Mission to See a Game at Every Home College Football Stadium in the Country
Since 2008, Jarrett Singer and Al Botta have been on a rather unorthodox quest: to watch a college football game in every home Division I-A football stadium in the country. Their website CollegeFootballQuest.com keeps fans updated on their progress. This year they visit two of the largest, well publicized stadiums in college football; “The Big House” or Michigan Stadium, home of the Michigan Wolverines, and “Death Valley” or Tiger Stadium, home of the LSU Tigers, as well as Rice University, and the University of Houston as a doubleheader weekend!
Though their Quest didn’t officially get underway until seven years ago, Singer says the seed of the idea was planted much earlier, in his senior year at the University of Florida, when he enrolled in a course called Coaching Football. “It was not the easy ‘A’ that it sounds like,” Singer says. “You had to do a lot of work building a playbook and scouting an opponent. I learned a lot and as a result my ideal seat in the stadium is the first row of the upper deck in the middle of the end zone, where I can better see critical plays develop.”
They’ve had an opportunity to see a lot of those critical plays develop. In the first year of their Quest, at a game in DeKalb, Illinois between the Central Michigan Chippewas and the Northern Illinois Huskies, Singer and Botta watched as Northern Illinois battled back from a twenty-four point deficit to force overtime, only to throw an interception and lose. “We still talk about that game.” Botta says. “Not only is it a fond memory being one of the first trips, but it was a great game. It also was the game that made the Quest ‘real’ for us.”
Since the first year, the Quest has evolved into more than just a “checking the stadium off a list” event. The Quest has given them an opportunity see a lot of things in America’s college towns they might have otherwise missed. “The game day experience is always the highlight,” Botta says, “but now we always incorporate tours of the campus, visiting local eateries and shops, experiencing area tourist attractions in the town or city, pregame networking with fans, etc. It’s become more organized and thus more enjoyable.”
What about some of the great memories or experiences along the way? “There’s too many to name now,” Singer says. He smiles and adds, “Penn State in a Winnebago, a Friday night Miami Red Hawks hockey game, Cagle Steaks in Lubbock, where I still order steaks from by the way, and The Grove at Ole Miss, all usually come up in conversation once a day. I could go on and on.”
And what do their families think of the Quest? Botta doesn’t hesitate. “My wife is very, very supportive of the Quest. She thinks I’m crazy, but she’s still supportive,” he says. “She’s probably right,” Singer chimes in.
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If you’d like more information about College Football Quest, or to schedule an interview with Jarrett Singer or Al Botta, please call Al at 516/967-8993 or email Al at al@collegefootballquest.com
Follow the guys on Twitter;
Al Follow @CollFballQuest
Jarrett Follow @CollegeFbQuest