Minn. man's pitch gets him free BCS tix

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MINNETONKA, Minn., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A Minnesota man says his long-shot pitch to Discover Card got him free tickets to the big football game between Notre Dame and Alabama.

Dan Scaminace of Minnetonka told the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune he's a big Fighting Irish fan (2005 alumnus) and really wanted to see them play in Monday night's BCS national championship game. So six weeks ago, he wrote to Discover, the game's sponsor and the issuer of one of his credit cards, offering a deal.

He offered to cancel all his other credit cards, transfer balances to his Discover card and donate his cash-back bonuses from Discover to charity in return for two tickets.

"I was laughing as I wrote it. I thought, 'This is pretty good,'" Scaminace told the newspaper. "I was slightly embarrassed, but I certainly wasn't above it."

Lo and behold the folks at Discover, apparently seeing visions of public relations pay dirt, not only came through with the ducats, but airfare to Miami and accommodations for him and his fiancee, Corynn Koch, all gratis.

"I was shaking during the phone call," he said.