Space race: BCS-bound fans worried about finding parking for the Jan. 9 championship game in New Orleans can reserve spots in parking garages near the Mercedes-Benz Superdome at ParkWhiz.com. The site contracts with venues and parking-lot owners nationwide, including three companies that own parking towers within a short radius of the Superdome. Users can book a space on the website or its mobile app, and will get turn-by-turn directions. Prices are set by space owners and vary based on factors such as relative distance to the Superdome. Aashish Dalal, ParkWhiz CEO, says every space sold is guaranteed. “We verify each vendor thoroughly,” he says. The site does not offer spaces at the Superdome itself; parking at the facility is first-come, first-serve on game day at a price of $25, and is available for cars only.
The big pac(t): The Pac-12 and Big Ten announced Wednesday that the two power conferences have agreed to a “collaboration” that, if successful, could have far-reaching ramifications for both leagues, ESPN.com reports. Beginning as early as next year, the Pac-12 and Big Ten will initiate what amounts to a friends-with-benefits alliance. In short, the two leagues are going to significantly reconfigure their future football, basketball and other sports schedules to feature games between their combined 24 member schools. It isn’t a merger, but the cleverly constructed “collaborative effort” (as the official press release describes it) provides the Pac-12 and the Big Ten with some of the benefits of expansion without the mess of exit fees, litigation and the loss of historical rivalries. And from a strategic standpoint, the arrangement could broaden the geographical, television and brand reach of both conferences. Read the full story here.
Into thin air: New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey will go forward with his plan to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro next week despite the Mets’ objections, multiple sources tell the New York Daily News. The newspaper says a person close to Dickey confirmed the Mets sent a “procedural” letter to his agent “just to cover themselves legally” over the summer, when the knuckleballer first began publicly discussing the excursion up the highest free-standing mountain on earth—more than 19,000 feet above sea level—to raise awareness and money for the Bombay Teen Challenge, a charity that helps victims of sex trafficking. In short, the team says it has the option of voiding the remainder of the pitcher’s two-year, $7.8 million contract if he’s injured on the hike. Dickey, 37, is scheduled to leave Nashville for Tanzania on Jan. 4, along with Mets bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello and Rockies pitcher Kevin Slowey, a former teammate.
