USF May Be Tripped Up By “International” Part of International Bowl

Update: They made it.
Leave it to the University of South Florida, a school that will defend its own geographic confusion to the death -- it’s located in Tampa, which is nowhere near “South Florida” by any Floridian’s standards -- to be the first team to have trouble with the International Bowl’s Canadian location.⇥USF is rushing to expedite passports for nearly 200 people, from players to band members, so the outfit can make it to the not-so-frozen tundra of the Rogers Centre.⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥Coach Jim Leavitt got word Sunday afternoon they were heading to the International Bowl in Toronto and had to have his team’s applications out by Thursday at the latest in order to cross the border.⇥⇥⇥⇥

It seems like USF personnel were scrambling to get things done by Thursday; when dealing with passports, whatever date is “at the latest” is always too late for comfort. These quotes, presumably gathered Thursday for an article that ran Friday, bear that out: “Although the applications are in the mail, there is no guarantee that the players will have them in time, Circuit Court Clerk Pat Frank said. “We’re not showing favoritism, we’re doing customer service. This is a unique situation and if it’s legal and we can help, that’s what we’ll do.”

So there’s no way of being entirely sure that USF will make it to their bowl game with passports in hand. The good news, in that respect, is that they won’t have any problems getting there: Canada allows U.S. citizens to enter the country with less specialized documentation. It’s the return trip that will be trouble, thanks to new rules that came into effect this summer.

The Bulls will probably get their passports and all will be well. (These things have a way of working themselves out.) USF coach Jim Leavitt would have you know that though this “process” is now the subject of some mirth, it is exciting.

⇥“It’s a process, but it is exciting knowing why they are getting a passport,” said Leavitt, who already has a passport. “South Florida is going International. How about that? That’s good stuff.“It’s also good stuff for the blogosphere, Jim. And that’s not good for you, especially as you try to build USF into a program on par with the Big Three in the state.(HT: Red and Black Attack.)

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