It is bowl week for Ohio State fans as the Buckeyes prepare for Monday’s Tostitos Fiesta Bowl against Texas at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

There are plenty of events for OSU fans who venture to the Valley of the Sun. Laurie Berg Sapp, a spokeswoman with the city of Glendale, recently ventured to Columbus to share what her city has to offer.

“We were thrilled to hear that the Fiesta Bowl had selected Ohio State,” Sapp said. “The Buckeye fans have come out and shown they are tremendous fans. We are so happy to host you again.”

According to Sapp, there has been a tremendous amount of development around the 2-year-old University of Phoenix Stadium since OSU played Florida there for the national championship two years ago.

When OSU fans attended that game, there was very little development around the stadium. There was an AMC cinema as well as the Jobing.com Arena, which hosts the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. The Westgate City Center has sprung up around the arena, providing a number of entertainment and shopping options for football fans, Berg said.

“Fans will notice a few changes since the last time they came out,” Sapp said. “Number one, we had a little thing called the Super Bowl (last January). We think we have a lot more restaurants, hotels and nightspots ready for the teams and their fans. We now have 9,000 hotel rooms within a 15-minute drive of the stadium.

“There are a lot of new restaurants in the Westgate area, which is just north of the stadium. There are a lot of new bars such as Jimmy Buffett’s Margaretaville, the Shout House with dueling pianos, there are just a lot more things for fans to enjoy.”

Glendale’s biggest event prior to the Fiesta Bowl will be Saturday’s Gridiron Jam, which will be located in the city’s downtown area about two miles northeast of the stadium.

“We have partnered up with the Fiesta Bowl for the Gridiron Jam,” Sapp said. “That will be held Sat., Jan. 3 in downtown Glendale. It’s a football fan festival. We would like to recreate what fans see in Texas and at Ohio State. There will be food, beer gardens and anything to celebrate football.”

Below is a look at special events, parking for the Fiesta Bowl and more on things to see and do in the Phoenix area over the next week.

Fiesta Bowl Events

* Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party, tonight, 5 p.m.-1 a.m. – This Arizona’s biggest and most exciting New Year’s Eve bash. More than 100,000 party-goers annually celebrate in Tempe’s Beach Park and Mill Avenue District amidst spectacular fireworks displays and an official midnight countdown drop. Legendary rock band Styx headlining the event, which will also feature more than 40 local bands and entertainers, beer gardens, dueling pianos, freestyle motocross jumpers and more.

* Fort McDowell Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, 11 a.m., Saturday – The parade will take place in downtown Phoenix.

* Glendale’s Fiesta Bowl Gridiron Jam, Saturday, 4-10 p.m. -- The city of Glendale is partnering with the Fiesta Bowl to host a football-themed fan festival, just two days before the city hosts the Fiesta Bowl.  Valley residents and out-of-town visitors will enjoy street performances by local artists, football-related attractions, interactive games and merchandise, as well as food and beer gardens.

There will also be special appearances by college football personalities during the event. When the sun sets, Glendale Glitters, Arizona’s largest free holiday light display, will light up the nighttime sky, with more than 1.5 million lights throughout 12 blocks of the historic downtown area.

A special performance by the Ohio State University Buckeyes Marching Band will kick off the event.

* Buckeye Bash, Sunday, 2:30-4 p.m. -- The Ohio State University Alumni Association will host a Buckeye Bash in conjunction with Buckeyes’ Fiesta Bowl appearance against Texas. The Bash will be held at Tempe Beach Park, 54 W. Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe. Tempe Beach Park is at the corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway.

Alumni Association president and CEO Archie Griffin, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, and other special guests will speak at the Bash. The event will also feature performances by Brutus, the Ohio State cheerleaders, and the Ohio State Marching Band.

Merchandise, food, and beverages will be available at the Fiesta Bowl Buckeye Bash. The Bash is hosted by the Alumni Association and Ohio State’s Department of Athletics.

The Association last hosted the Bash at Tempe Beach Park in 2006 and drew 20,000 fans to the event. The Bash at Chase Field in Phoenix in 2007 drew more than 37,000 fans.

* College Football’s Biggest Party, Monday, beginning at noon -- College Football’s Biggest Party is an action-packed celebration full of the ultimate tailgate experience located at the Glendale Youth Sports Complex, adjacent to the stadium.

Crazed sports fanatics gear-up for the big game while enjoying pep rallies, performances by the university marching bands and cheerleaders, Jumbotrons, interactive games and food and beverage booths.  Ticket price includes a plated meal.

* Stadium Club, Monday, starting at 2 p.m. -- On game day, VIP guests are invited to enjoy the college football festivities from an exclusive area located within College Football's Biggest Party.  This upgraded tailgate features big screen televisions and musical entertainment as well as a wonderful pre-game meal.

The Stadium Club creates a game-day atmosphere with team spirited décor and a flair for which the Fiesta Bowl is known.

Game Day Parking

Parking is still very limited around University of Phoenix Stadium. It is a good idea to obtain a parking pass.

Parking passes may be picked up at the Fiesta Bowl offices in Scottsdale (7135 E. Camelback Road, Suite 190; 480.350.0911) between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. seven days a week. There is no will call for parking passes on game day.

If you do not have a parking pass, public parking is available in two locations:

* Brown Lot at the southeast corner of 91st and Orangewood. Exit Loop 101 at Northern to access this lot. There is a fee for this parking.

* The Renaissance Hotel Parking Garage at the southeast corner of Americana and Coyotes. Exit Loop 101 at Glendale Ave to access the garage. There is a fee for this parking.

For more information on parking and game day traffic routes, check this site:

http://www.glendalesgotgame.com/fiestabowl/TrafficRoutes.pdf

It is important to note that the stadium in Glendale is located about 20 minutes west of downtown Phoenix. From the eastern suburbs of Scottsdale and Tempe, the drive could be up to an hour or more on game day.

The Sporting Life

This is quite a week to be in Phoenix because of a wide variety of major sporting events.

Those already in town could slide by Sun Devil Stadium today for the Insight Bowl between Kansas and Minnesota. It kicks off at 4 p.m.

The NBA’s Phoenix Suns host the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. Friday at U.S. Airways Center in downtown Phoenix.

The NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes host Colorado at 6 p.m. today and will host the New York Islanders at 7 p.m. Friday at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

And the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals will host their first home playoff game since arriving in the Valley in 1988 when they welcome the Atlanta Falcons at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium. There are tickets still available for this NFL wild card game at www.azcardinals.com 

Stadium Factoids

The University of Phoenix Stadium, with its retractable roof and field, is unlike any other stadium in North America, and a marvel of design, engineering, and technology.

The primary tenants in the stadium include the NFL's Arizona Cardinals and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.  The 63,400-seat stadium (expandable to 73,000) opened on August 1, 2006 after three years of construction. The ceremonial groundbreaking was held on April 12, 2003.

The first preseason football game was played August 12, 2006 when the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-13. The first regular season game was played September 10, 2006 against the San Francisco 49ers.  The stadium hosted the highest attended soccer match in the state of Arizona on Feb. 7, 2007 when 62,462 fans watched the U.S. National team defeat Mexico, 2-0.

The multipurpose nature of the facility allowed it to host 91 events representing 110 event days between the dates of Aug. 4, 2006 through the BCS National Championship on Jan. 8, 2007. These events included Arizona Cardinals games; public grand opening tours held Aug. 19-20, 2006 (attended by 120,000 people); various shows, expositions, tradeshows and motorsport events; the Rolling Stones concert November 8, 2006; the AIA 4A and 5A state championship games for; an international soccer exhibition match; the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championships; the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2007 (Boise State’s upset of Oklahoma); and the BCS National Championship Jan. 8, 2007.

It hosted the Super Bowl last January as the New York Giants upset unbeaten New England 17-14.

The stadium features a unique grass playing surface, which is mechanically removed from the stadium so it can have sunlight between games and during the off-season.

Also Keep In Mind

For those attending the game, the Phoenix area is on Mountain time, which is two hours behind Eastern time in Columbus. That means the game will start at roughly 8:20 p.m. Eastern time and 6:20 p.m. Mountain time in Glendale.

Also, forecasts for the week call for daily high temperatures approaching 70 degrees with plenty of sunshine. But at night, temperatures will drop into the 40s, so fans should plan ahead with sweaters or jackets as evening attire.