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Bill Blankenship's Wild Ride

Bowl games are notorious for pampering its teams with gifts - some give jewelry, others electronics - but the Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl does something unique.

They take the competing coaches up in an Army-style helicopter, flying them over the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship and BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall received this honor last week, and were joined in-flight by their Athletic Directors.

While in the air, the coaches and AD's were wearing headsets so they could communicate with each other.  They could also hear the air traffic control, and the helicopter's computer system.

It was that computer system that gave the passengers a bit of a scare - midway through the flight, the system began saying "object ahead, pull up!"

Needless to say, the coaches and administrators were a bit nervous, especially when the pilot seemed to not hear the computer.

As it turns out, the computer can read a wide radius around the chopper, so no one was in danger - no one was harmed!

Tulsa and BYU kick-off the 2011 Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl on December 30th at 11 a.m. from the campus of SMU in Dallas.