For Utah fans who couldn’t make it to the Superdome, U student Jonathan Bowen and miniature mascot Lil’ Swoop used blogging to keep everyone tuned into the minute-by-minute glory.
Bowen, a junior finance major, blogged his entire experience from Salt Lake City to New Orleans and back at www.sweettasteofvictory.blogspot.com.
Bowen photographed Lil’ Swoop, a small, stuffed version of the Utah mascot, at the Sugar Bowl for the fans at home. On the Web site, Lil’ Swoop is pictured in the car for the 30-hour drive, with the cheerleaders at the pep rally in New Orleans and at the big game.
University Marketing and Communications wanted to find a student who would blog his or her experience of the Sugar Bowl, Bowen said.
“The P.R. department came up with the Lil’ Swoop idea,” Bowen said. “We were trying to mimic the traveling gnome.”
U spokesman Remi Barron said the marketing and communications department sat down with Bowen and put the blog together so he just needed to post entries and photographs. They showed him how to take pictures with his phone and how to post online.
“The blog is for students and fans that couldn’t go,” Barron said. “While they could have gone if we went to the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl was too far.”
With the blog in mind, Bowen and his group attended every event they could so that fans at home could experience New Orleans.
“Everyone had the blog in mind, and I know it was the first thing on Jon’s mind,” said Brittany Poulson, a junior who traveled to the Sugar Bowl with Bowen. “We tried to come up with creative ways to take pictures of Swoop…and to do as much as possible while we were down there.”
Even with poor Internet connection in the hotel room, posting pictures from Bowen’s cell phone created an interesting experience for Utah fans back home.
“It was kind of a hassle and I had to constantly remind myself to post…but it took up no more than 30 minutes of my day,” Bowen said.
More than 2,000 fans have already visited Bowen’s blog, according to Google Analytics.