Summer Update

Hi again everybody!

I hope this Linder's Look finds everyone in the throes of a great summer. Here at KSU, football training camp just began this week and the countdown is on toward that August 30 opening night battle with Ohio! I'll have more on that a little later.

As the "Voice of the Golden Flashes," I am pretty much booked from Labour Day through Memorial Day. (Sometimes beyond, see KSU Baseball 2012!) So it's important for me to be able to take some time during the summer months to catch up with family and friends I missed during that time span. Part of the tradeoff of this great job is working weekends and holidays and sometimes missing out on some pretty special occasions like weddings and birthday celebrations.

Each year since 2008 the Linder family makes the trek to Las Vegas for one week. It's a great family vacation destination because there are just as many things to do on your own as their are as a group. This year we went to a very special room at the top of one of the southernmost hotels called the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay. It offers unrivaled vantage points of the most famous stretch of road in the world. Films such as Oceans 11 have been shot there and the view is breathtaking. Just don't look down!

The world-famous Siegfried and Roy Show was the most visited show in Las Vegas from 1990-2003 and featured the German duo's iconic white tigers. While I was never personally able to see the show, the effect the show had on the entertainment industry is still being felt. And who knew they were such big KSU fans! Check out that sylish hat Montecore is sporting!

Not far from Vegas is the Mohave Desert and a plot of land known as "Death Valley." This is a stretch of geography you drive through on your way to Los Angeles and back. Located in LA - among other things - is Six Flags Magic Mountain, which bills itself as the "Thrill Ride Capital of the World." Having grown up in Sandusky, Ohio, the home of Cedar Point, those are fighting words! Even so, I like making the four-hour trip on I-15 every once in a while to check out what CP's biggest rival has to offer.

One thing it has to offer - albeit for not much longer - is Colossus, a twin wooden roller coaster which has appeared in many film and television shows. You may best remember it from the 1983 movie "Vacation" where a disgruntled Clark Griswold forces a security guard played by John Candy into the ride with a BB gun. To commemorate the closing of the ride this fall, the park brought the legendary "family truckster" out of retirement and it's on display near the ride's que! KSU women's basketball assistant coach Geoff Lanier and myself have been known to communicate in National Lampoon's "Vacation" movie dialogue so I know he appreciates this gesture!

It has certainly been a great summer of vacation memories. But the one thing Ive noticed is how much money one can spend on vacation! For example, tickets to a decent Las Vegas show were $110 a person! And a day at Magic Mountain can wreak havoc on the pocketbook when you add up tickets, parking and food!

Which is why I'm so proud that we offer our football season tickets at such a bargain price. Get this folks, for six exciting NCAA DI football games featuring the Golden Flashes and members of one of the most entertaining and rising conferences in college football, you only have to pay $96. Say WHAT? Yes, just $96! And we are gonna throw in a parking pass as well, another $30 value! And that price is for chairback seats, you can sit elsewhere for as low as $60! And we'll still toss in a parking pass!

Now, if you have somehow missed Ametek's unbelievable fireworks display on opening night the last two years, don't let it happen again! They are again planning a huge pyrotechnic display choreographed to music after the Flashes beat the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday, August 30. And you can even come down on the field to watch!

Get to the ticket office ASAP and treat you and your family to one last summer treat - tickets to KSU football! Our office is open Monday-Friday from 8:30a to 4:30p. Or give Eric a call at 330.672.2244.

Until next time!

TL