Why Is Gameday Going To Boston?

ESPN is sending College Gameday to Boston for the officially dull, and unranked, matchup of Florida State and Boston College. Obviously there has to be a reason, and while some might think it's to promote the launch of ESPNBoston.com, that's actually not the case. ESPN is heading to BC in part to discuss the story of Mark Herzlich, who was the Eagles' star linebacker who was 2008's ACC Defensive POY, and diagnosed with cancer this past March. Via The Sporting Blog....

ESPN's College GameDay has been all over the country since they took their show on the road, literally, in 1993. Until this coming weekend, though, the show had only been in Boston once, parachuting into Chestnut Hill in 2005 for Boston College's first ACC game.

The reasoning for going to a matchup of two unranked teams in a town where college football may be the fourth or fifth passion? Well, at least on its surface, it likely has something to do with the story of Mark Herzlich, the BC linebacker who was 2008's ACC Defensive Player of the Year and diagnosed with cancer in March.

However, at the risk of sounding crass: Does this really require moving the entire production to Boston? ESPN's offices, it is impossible to forget, are in Bristol, Connecticut, and their crews are more than capable of driving to Chestnut Hill or Pennsylvania, where Herzlich may be with his family, and putting together a moving piece with or without GameDay in town.

I personally think where Gameday goes, isn't really important, and there's not a chance that ESPN would send the crew to hype a CBS game airing that day. Sure there's Cal-USC, and Oklahoma-Miami, but why not raise awareness for Cancer research whenever you can.

Why College GameDay Is Coming to Your City, If You Live in Boston (The Sporting Blog)