Wish we would have gotten in this: Big City Classic

[danefan]

http://www.insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pag...;storyid=192461

 

I drove past Giants Stadium yesterday and saw the huge jumbotron with an ad for this. Disappointing that we couldn't get in it.

 

 

BALTIMORE, November 10 — Bob Carpenter, Publisher of Inside Lacrosse, announced plans today for a major event featuring a college lacrosse tripleheader. The first-ever Big City Classic will be played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on April 4, 2009.

 

The Big City Classic places some of the elite names in lacrosse on the big stage of Giants Stadium, with New York City providing a unique backdrop. In so doing, IL has ensured that lacrosse will be added to the impressive list of major sporting events that Giants Stadium has hosted. These include but are not limited to NFL regular season and playoff games, World Cup Soccer, college football bowl games and regular season games and major American soccer events, including men's and women's national team games.

 

The six lacrosse teams involved are worthy of the big stage. North Carolina, Virginia, Syracuse, Princeton, Hofstra and Delaware have advanced to the NCAA Semifinals a combined 67 times. They have won 24 NCAA championships, including the one Syracuse claimed last season.

 

“For the past three years, Inside Lacrosse has been committed to creating events that will expose fans to the energy and passion of college lacrosse,” Carpenter commented. “One of the glaring absences our sport's had to date, is that the top level of Division I men's lacrosse has never been played on the doorstep of New York City. This is the number one media market in the world. To showcase the sport on such a big stage, we knew we had to bring together as much talent as possible. With the combination of these programs, we feel we're bringing to the New York metropolitan area one of the strongest lineups ever assembled.”

 

The schedule for the Big City Classic has been set.

 

Virginia and North Carolina will face-off in the first game, at noon. That game features teams who have won a combined eight NCAA titles.

 

The second game will be Syracuse vs. Princeton at 2:30 p.m. Those teams have won a combined 16 titles.

 

The third game features Colonial Athletic Association rivals Hofstra and Delaware, at 5 p.m. Hofstra advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year. Delaware advanced to the final four in 2007.

 

All six programs have entered into a two-year commitment for the Big City Classic.

 

The Big City Classic adds another property to the IL event portfolio. Two other events were unveiled by IL over the summer. The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic features Maryland vs. Duke and Johns Hopkins vs. Princeton on Feb. 28 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The first-ever Day of Rivals features the Army-Navy and Johns Hopkins-Maryland games together on one stage – M&T Bank Stadium – on April 11.

 

“Lacrosse is rich and dense in Upstate New York, Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” added Carpenter. “However, nothing on this large a scale has been organized for the spectator experience. We couldn't be more excited about the upcoming Big City Classic, and we couldn't be more thankful to the coaches and administrations for taking part. If you're on the east coast and you love the college game, mark April 4th on the calendar. It will be more than coming to watch a couple games. It will be a festival. So expect more announcements soon, regarding additional game day components.”

 

Said New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority President & CEO Dennis Robinson: “We are very proud to bring this historic lacrosse triple-header to Giants Stadium featuring six teams that are the collegiate gold standard in the sport. This great event shows once again that the Meadowlands Sports Complex, at the epicenter of one of lacrosse's great hotbeds of interest, is at the forefront of American sports and entertainment.”

 

Ticket prices for the Big City Classic will be $15 for group purchases of 10 or more, $25 for lower level reserved seats and $40 for mezzanine level reserved seats at Giants Stadium. Tickets for the Big City Classic are scheduled to go on sale December 1, 2008. Tickets can be purchased at the IZOD Center box office (Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.), all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster Charge By Phone at 201-507-8900 or Ticketmaster.com. Go online to InsideLacrosse.com and get all of the latest news on everything happening in the sport, including the entire Inside Lacrosse event lineup: Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic; Big City Classic; and Day of Rivals.