[Durty Nelly]

Drove up to Dublin for the game with my son.  A fantastic atmosphere in Dublin with over 30,000 US fans.  Pubs were hopping when we got there at noon, (5 pm kickoff local time).  Experienced the first international Gameday telecast in the center of Dublin before walking to the Aviva Stadium.  Good buzz in the stadium and the tomahawk chop got going early in the game but did little to help their defense in the 4th quarter.  My first ACC game was a great introduction to the conference.

That's great to hear!  Curious -- assuming you've been to a football (soccer!) game in Ireland, how would you say the experiences compare?  (Crowd energy, involvement, etc)

Energy and atmosphere in the stadium although excellent were not to the level of an Irish rugby or soccer international.  Take into account that these matches are 95% fans for one side (Ireland).  This match had 50% FSU fans, 15% Georgia Tech fans and 35% locals/neutrals.  Never going to compete with a big Irish match with those demographics.  The fan involvement was different with the tomahawk chop and chant.  Irish sports crowds passionately sing during matches (Fields of Athenry at rugby matches).  The US marching bands before the game and at halftime are not matched by any pre-game or halftime entertainment at Irish sporting events.  There was also an impressive flyover by an Aer Lingus jet.  (Aer Lingus is the main sponsor of the event which generates over $100 million for the Irish economy.)

The pre-match buzz was up there with an Irish match, and there is not an Irish equivalent to Gameday.   The pints kept flowing at the match with copious amounts of curry chips and hot dogs being consumed.  (The Irish enjoy their pints during the game but no where near the food consumption of the US fans.)

My son said Pat McAfee had 9 pints of Guinness during his show on Friday night.  That is impressive.  He did not seem worse for wear on Saturday.   Never heard of/or seen anything like that before on a national TV broadcast.

[Durty Nelly]

Drove up to Dublin for the game with my son.  A fantastic atmosphere in Dublin with over 30,000 US fans.  Pubs were hopping when we got there at noon, (5 pm kickoff local time).  Experienced the first international Gameday telecast in the center of Dublin before walking to the Aviva Stadium.  Good buzz in the stadium and the tomahawk chop got going early in the game but did little to help their defense in the 4th quarter.  My first ACC game was a great introduction to the conference.

That's great to hear!  Curious -- assuming you've been to a football (soccer!) game in Ireland, how would you say the experiences compare?  (Crowd energy, involvement, etc)

Energy and atmosphere in the stadium although excellent were not to the level of an Irish rugby or soccer international.  Take into account that these matches are 95% fans for one side (Ireland).  This match had 50% FSU fans, 15% Georgia Tech fans and 35% locals/neutrals.  Never going to compete with a big Irish match with those demographics.  The fan involvement was different with the tomahawk chop and chant.  Irish sports crowds passionately sing during matches (Fields of Athenry at rugby matches).  The US marching bands before the game and at halftime are not matched by any pre-game or halftime entertainment at Irish sporting events.  There was also an impressive flyover by an Aer Lingus jet.  (Aer Lingus is the main sponsor of the event which generates over $100 million for the Irish economy.)

The pre-match buzz was up there with an Irish match, and there is not an Irish equivalent to Gameday.   The pints kept flowing at the match with copious amounts of curry chips and hot dogs being consumed.  (The Irish enjoy their pints during the game but no where near the food consumption of the US fans.)

My son said Pat McAfee had 9 pints of Guinness during his show on Friday night.  That is impressive.  He did not seem worse for wear on Saturday.   Never heard of/or seen anything like that before on a national TV broadcast.