This Saturday, Florida State University hosts the University of Miami in a battle of historical (well, recently historical) intrastate college football titans.
It's Florida. Hot and humid are to be expected. Temperatures are being projected for the mid-80s in the afternoons and the high 60s for the evenings, all weekend long. Stay hydrated, and wear a hat. To be sure, check the website of their newspaper,
While Florida is in the South, you won't need a passport, and you won't need to change your money. Most of the State is in the Eastern Time Zone, although, just a little bit west of Tallahassee, the westernmost part of the Panhandle is in the Central Time Zone.
FSU hosted 6 games at Doak Campbell Stadium last season, and all 6 had crowds of over 75,000. In contrast, of the 6 games that UM hosted at Hard Rock Stadium last season, only the game against FSU topped 61,000. It would be far easier to get tickets to this game if it were in Miami Gardens. But, this being an odd-numbered year, it's in T-town.
Getting There. It's 1,283 miles from Times Square in New York to downtown Miami, and 1,069 miles to Tallahassee. Knowing this distance, your first reaction is going to be to fly down there.
To Miami, this is not a horrible idea, as the flight is just 3 hours, but you'll still have to get from the airport to wherever your hotel is. If you're trying to get from the airport to downtown, you'll need to change buses – or change from a bus to Miami's Tri-Rail rapid transit service. And it is possible, if you order quickly, to find nonstop flights for under $500 round-trip.
To Tallahassee, it's a lot trickier. You'll have to change planes in Orlando, and you'd have to wait until Monday morning to fly back out, as there's only 1 plane out on Saturday, and it's before kickoff; and none on Sunday! It would be fairly cheap, under $800, but 3 nights in a hotel? In Tallahassee? I don't think so! And there's no bus or train service to downtown, or to the campus. You'll have to rent a car or get a taxi to go the 6 miles northeast to downtown.
The train is not a very good idea, to either city. Amtrak doesn't go to Tallahassee. As for Miami, you'll have to leave Penn Station on Amtrak's Silver Star at 11:02 AM and arrive in Miami at 5:58 the next day's evening, a 31-hour ride. The return trip will leave at 8:10 AM and return to New York at 11:00 AM, "only" 27 hours – no, as I said earlier, there's no time-zone change involved. Round-trip, it'll cost $310. And the station isn't all that close, at 8303 NW 37th Avenue. Fortunately, there's a Tri-Rail station there that will take you downtown.
How about Greyhound? There are 6 buses leaving Port Authority every day with connections to Miami, only one of them nonstop, the 10:30 PM to 4:20 AM (2 days later) version. The rest require you to change buses in Richmond and Orlando. (I don't know about changing buses in Orlando, but I have changed buses in Richmond, and I can tell you: It is not fun.) The ride, including the changeovers, takes about 30 hours. Round-trip fare is $466, but you can get it for $192 on advanced-purchase.
The station is at 4111 NW 27th Street and, ironically, is right across 42nd Avenue from the airport. It's worth the fact that it'll cost twice as much to simply fly down. Plus, you might be reminded of the end of the movie Midnight Cowboy, and nobody wants to be reminded of that.
To Tallahassee, it's $466 round-trip, but $318 with advanced-purchase. The station is at 112 W. Tennessee Street, downtown.
If you want to drive, it'll help to get someone to go down with you, and take turns driving. You'll be going down Interstate 95 (or its New Jersey equivalent, the Turnpike) almost the whole way. It'll be about 2 hours from the Lincoln Tunnel to the Delaware Memorial Bridge, 20 minutes in Delaware, and an hour and a half in Maryland, before crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, at the southern tip of the District of Columbia, into Virginia. Then it will be 3 hours or so in Virginia, another 3 hours in North Carolina, about 3 hours and 15 minutes in South Carolina, a little under 2 hours in Georgia, and about 6 hours and 15 minutes in Florida before you reach downtown Miami.
Given rest stops, preferably in one in each State from Maryland to Georgia and 2 in Florida, you're talking about a 28-hour trip.
To Tallahassee, the directions are the same until you get to Jacksonville. There, take Interstate 10 West. That'll be about 18 hours, or 24 with rest stops.
Once In the City. "Tallahassee" is a Muskogean tribal word for "old fields" or "old town." Founded in 1824, and the capital of the Territory from then onward and the State since joining the Union in 1845, it is home to about 190,000 people, with a metropolitan area of about twice that, about 378,000, including over the State Line in southernmost Georgia.
A lot of people don't realize it, because Miami is Florida's most famous city, but the most populous city in the State is Jacksonville. However, while Miami has about 450,000 people within the city limits, there are 6.4 million living in the metro area, making it far and away the largest in the South, not counting Texas. As a whole, Florida has about 20.6 million people.
Because Florida is so hot (How hot
is it?), and air-conditioning didn't become common until the mid-20th Century, Miami was founded rather late by the standards of the East coast, in 1825, and wasn't incorporated as a city until 1896. The name is derived from the Mayaimi tribe of Native Americans. Miami Avenue is the east-west divider, Flagler Street the north-south.
The city has no beltway.
The Herald is the only major newspaper left in the city, but the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale should also be available. And, considering how many ex-New Yorkers are around, you might also be able to get the Times, the Daily News, or, if you're really desperate (or really conservative), the Post.
The sales tax in Florida is 6 percent, but it's 7 percent within Miami-Dade County. ZIP Codes in Tallahassee start with the digits 323. The Area Code is 850. ZIP Codes in Miami start with the digits 330, 331 and 332; in the Fort Lauderdale area, 333; and in the Palm Beach area, 334 and 349.
Florida Power & Light runs the Miami area's electricity, and Gulf Power Company does so for Tallahassee.
No longer thought of as a haven for retired Jewish New Yorkers, Miami is the most Hispanic city east of Texas: 70 percent, with half of that, 34 percent of the total, being of Cuban origin, many of them refugees from the 1959 Castro Revolution and their descendants.
It should be noted, though, that, after 2 generations, there are Cubans in South Florida who don't remember living under the Castros, and find out that things weren't so great under the Batista regime, either, and thus don't automatically vote Republican because of the single issue.
The city is 19 percent black, 10 percent white, and only about 1 percent Asian. Miami-Dade County as a whole is about 65 percent Hispanic, 17 percent black, 15 percent white, 2 percent Asian, and 1 percent Middle Eastern. North of the river is mostly black, and a few miles north of that mostly white; while south of the river is mostly Hispanic.
Miami had a race riot in downtown in 1980, after the acquittal of policemen who had beaten a black man to death late the previous year; a riot in the Overtown section in early 1989, after a white policeman ran over a black bicyclist; and a riot in the Wynwood section in late 1990, after the acquittal of officers who had beaten a drug dealer to death.
In contrast, Tallahassee is about 53 percent white, 35 percent black, 6 percent Hispanic and 4 percent Asian. Which is not to say that the Florida Panhandle has been free of racial issues. The northernmost part of Florida is definitely the Deep South, and the Pandhandle's coast is known as "the Redneck Riviera" and "Floribama." And Escambia High School in Pensacola, all-white until 1969 and previously with "Rebels" as a mascot, faced riots over that name in 1972 and 1976, before it was changed to "Gators." (Emmitt Smith is a graduate.)
Since 1984, Miami has had a rapid-transit rail service, Metrorail. However, the ballpark isn't all that close to it. You will need to take the Number 7 bus from downtown. The fare for the Metrorail and the Metrobus is $2.25.
A Metrorail train at a downtown station
Starting in early 2018, Brightline rail service will connect Miami with Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with an extension to Orlando, hoping to open it in 2020.
Unusually, Tallahassee's bus lines have letters rather than numbers. A single ride is $1.25. Their north-south divider is Park Avenue, and their east-west divider is Adams Street. Neither Miami nor Tallahassee has a beltway.
The
Florida Institute was founded in Tallahassee as an all-male seminary via a
State charter in 1851, which FSU now recognizes as its founding date, although
it didn't begin holding classes until 1857. In 1858, it absorbed the
Tallahassee Female Academy, which had been founded in 1843.
In 1861,
as Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America,
the school became the Florida Military and Collegiate Institute. When Florida
was readmitted to the Union in 1868, the school became the West Florida
Seminary. It became Florida State College in 1901, and Florida State University
in 1947. It was racially integrated in 1962, and its student demonstrations got
it nicknamed "the Berkeley of the South."
Florida State played football from 1902 to 1905,
but dropped the program, not starting up again until 1947. In 1982, 100 miles to the west, they opened a 2nd campus, Florida State University Panama City.
FSU's
non-sports alumni have included:
* Journalism:
Kathleen Parker, WNBC-Channel 4 meteorologist Janice Huff, Jenn Sterger.
* Business:
Spanx founder Sara Blakely.
* Politics,
representing Florida unless otherwise stated: Governors Reubin Askew, Mel
Martinez (also former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development), Charlie
Crist, and Parris Glendening and Larry Hogan, both of Maryland; Senators
Martinez and Kay Hagan of North Carolina; former Mayor Art Agnos of San
Francisco; the current President of the African nation of Botswana, Mokgweetsi
Masisi; and former National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland.
* Literature:
Hunter S. Thompson, Doug Marlette, Jeff Shaara.
* Entertainment:
Singers Rita Coolidge, Luis Fonsi, Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti of Creed, and
Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line; drummer Butch Trucks of The Allman
Brothers Band; actors Burt Reynolds, Vic Morrow, Robert Urich, Sonny Shroyer,
Paul Gleason, Henry Polic and Casper Van Dien; actresses Nancy Kulp, Faye
Dunaway, Polly Holliday, Christine Lahti, Traylor Howard, Cheryl Hines, and
Joanna Garcia; director Barry Jenkins; model and former volleyball star
Gabrielle Reece; and Miss America 1997 Tara Dawn Holland Christensen.
Jim
Morrison of The Doors, born to a Navy family in Melbourne, Florida, famously told a Miami concert crowd, "I'm from Florida! I
went to Florida State! Then I got smart, and moved to California!" He got
booed. Then he got in real trouble. (He did actually attend FSU, from September 1962 to December 1963. He was arrested for a prank after a football game, and transferred to UCLA to attend its renowned Film School, where he met a pianist and aspiring director from Chicago named Ray Manzarek. The rest is history.)
The
University of Miami was founded in 1925, but, despite its name, its main campus
has always been in adjoining Coral Gables. It was desegregated in 1961, a year
sooner than FSU. UF beat both of them, in 1958. Its Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine is in downtown Miami, near the Civic Center rail station. Its Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is at Virginia Key, accessbile via the Rickenbacker Causeway across Biscayne Bay. Its South Campus is 12 miles away, at the former Richmond Naval Air Station.
UM's non-sports alumni include:
* Journalism:
Cristina Saralegui, Ana Navarro.
* Literature:
Mark Medoff and Donald Justice.
* Entertainment:
Singers Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, Gloria Estefan of Miami Sound
Machine, Bruce Hornsby, Ann Curless of Expose, Enrique Iglesias, and Natalie
Gelman; songwriter Jerry Herman; Will Lee of David Letterman's band; actors Majel
Barrett Roddenberry, Michael Dunn, Charles Grodin, Jo Ann Pflug, Ernie Sabella,
Gail Edwards, Dawnn Lewis, Ray Liotta, Steven Bauer, Wayne Brady, Dwayne "The
Rock" Johnson and Tessie Santiago; comedian Finesse Mitchell; screenwriter
David Isaacs; directors Frank Perry and Bob Clark.
Gene
Roddenberry, Sylvester Stallone, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Ben Folds and
Patti Scialfa Springsteen attended UM, but did not graduate. An Amy Lee did,
but this one was in Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, and isn't the lead
singer of Evanescence.
* Law: Los
Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and noted defense attorney Roy Black.
* Politics:
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida; former Republican National Committee Chairman
Reince Priebus; and the current Prime Minister of the Central American nation
of Belize, Dean Barrow.
Going In. Doak Campbell Stadium is 2 miles west of downtown Tallahassee, at 403 Stadium Drive West. Bus F or T. If you drive in, parking is $5.00. The field has always been natural grass, and points northwest-to-southeast. Florida State's bench is on the west side, the visitors' on the east side.
Officially, it is Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Campbell was the University's president from 1941 to 1957, including 1947, when the Florida State College for Women was made co-educational by an act of the State Legislature. Knowing that a State University in a Southern State wasn't worth a damn without a sports program, he got one started, and the stadium opened in 1950.
It only had 15,000 seats at the time, and just 25,000 as late as 1963. Coach Bill Petersen expanded it to 40,500 in 1964, but it was no bigger by the time Bobby Bowden arrived from West Virginia in 1976. And the program was in shambles, having gone 4-18 the preceding 2 years and winless in 1973. As Bowden put it: "At West Virginia, the bumper stickers said BEAT PITT. Here, they say BEAT ANYBODY."
So he did. He totally overhauled the program, which allowed him to expand "The Doak" to 47,413 seats in 1978, 51,904 in 1980, 55,246 in 1982, 60,519 in 1985, 70,123 in 1992, 80,000 in 1996, and 82,300 in 2003. Its current capacity is listed as 79,560.
He outrecruited Miami, Florida, and other Southern schools for the Sunshine State's best talent. He got them to believe they could beat the good teams by, in the era when they were still an independent (before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992), scheduling the tough teams, and beating them. He built skyboxes and dorms, and made the place look like a castle. Which is why it became known as "The House That Bobby Built," because very little of the structure he inherited remains. It's also why the field was named in 2004, while he was still coaching. (He retired after the 2009 season.)
He also emphasized an established FSU tradition, the Sod Cemetery: Every time the Seminoles win an away game in which they are the underdog, or at the University of Florida, or at bowl games, or, since the ACC established a championship game, said game, the team captains cut out a small piece of sod -- real or artificial -- and have it planted inside the gates of Harkins Field, their practice facility.
This started in 1962, and by 1970, it had been done 23 times in 9 seasons. But in the 5 seasons before Bowden arrived, 1971 to 1975, it hadn't been done at all. Although the 'Noles lost their 1st 3 games under Bowden, and 6 of their 1st 8, on October 9, 1976, they went up to The Hub and beat Boston College, and took a piece of Alumni Stadium turf home with them. (Last season, when they beat Michigan in the Orange Bowl, they brought back the 100th piece of sod for their Cemetery. There have been 11 each from visits to the University of Florida and the University of Miami.)
The Sod Cemetery, with its caretaker, Douglas Mannheimer
It launched the program on an era of greatness. In only Bowden's 2nd season, he got the team to beat Florida away again, and win the Tangerine Bowl (now the Florida Citrus Bowl). In 1980, they won away to Louisiana State and Nebraska; in 1981, Ohio State and Notre Dame. On New Year's Day 1988, they won their 1st major bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl. FSU was now a top-level program, and Bowden became one of the great characters of college football -- even if some of his players were of questionable character.
The Seminoles have been to 47 bowl games, winning 27. These include the 1988 and 1990 Fiesta Bowls; the 1989, 1995, 1998 and 2000 Sugar Bowls; the 1992 Cotton Bowl; and the 1993, 1994, 1996, 2013 and 2017 Orange Bowls. The only major they haven't won is the Rose Bowl.
UPDATE: On October 6, 2017,
Thrillist compiled a list of their
Best
College Football Stadiums, the top 19 percent of
college football, 25 out of 129. Doak Campbell came in 16th:
There is, quite plainly, no more awesome crowd effect than 80,000 Seminole faithful chantingtheir vaunted Tomahawk Chop in unison. Whether you love the ‘Noles or your second-favorite team is their opponent, if you don’t get chills when Osceola slams his spear into the ground to a spiritual chorus of singing fans, you’re pretty much dead inside. The stadium itself is a bacchanal worthy of one of the greatest party schools in history, with human scenery that, many years, is more entertaining than the product on the field. Though when the team is good, Doak might be the most fun you can have in northern Florida.
As for the Hurricanes: Since 2008, they have no longer played their games at the historic Orange Bowl, which was demolished to make way for the new Marlins Park. Instead, they did what the runners of the Orange Bowl did, and moved operations into the Dolphins' stadium.
When it opened on August 16, 1987, it was named Joe Robbie Stadium, for the Dolphins' owner, who had it built for them and for a hypothetical MLB team that became the Marlins.
Since then, it's been named Pro Player Park (briefly in 1996), Pro Player Stadium (1996 to 2005, including both of the then-Florida Marlins' World Series wins), Dolphins Stadium (2005 to 2006), Dolphin Stadium (no more S on the end, 2006 to 2009), Land Shark Stadium (2009 to 2010), Sun Life Stadium (2010 until this past August 17), and now Hard Rock Stadium (with the Hard Rock Cafe franchise buying the naming rights). If you're keeping track, that's 8 names in 29 years, or a new name every 3 years, 7 1/2 months.
It's 15 miles north of downtown Miami, in a location that's been called, at various times, Miami, Miami Lakes, Miami Gardens, Carol City and Opa-Locka. Sounds like a bad variety show sketch.
The best way to get there from downtown is to take I-95 North to the Florida Turnpike (renamed the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, and, contrary to "conservative principles," the Gipper did believe in good roads), to Exit 2X for Northwest 199th Street. NW 199th is also known as Dan Marino Boulevard, named after some guy who never won a championship, college or pro.
The Stadium is between 199th and 203rd, and between the Turnpike and 27th Avenue, across 203rd and Snake Creek from Calder Race Course. The exact address is 347 Don Shula Drive, for the coach who won the Dolphins' 2 titles and the record number of NFL coaching wins he has. Parking is expensive: $40. Tailgating is permitted.
Before the renovation, with the seats in Dolphin aqua & orange
Public transportation there is a bit trickier. You'd have to take Metrorail from downtown to M.L. King Rail Station, then transfer to the Number 27 bus, riding that to NW 199th Street & NW 27th Court. And then you'd have to walk down 199th for about 15 minutes and turn into the parking lot. Not exactly ideal. (Somehow, I don't think a situation like this, especially with a transit station with his name on it, was part of Martin Luther King's dream. But he certainly would have approved of a racially mixed crowd watching racially mixed teams playing each other.)
In spite of South Florida's climate – the stadium probably gets more rain than any other in the NFL, including Seattle – umbrellas are not permitted inside. "Safety concerns," No, I'm not making that up, it's on the Dolphins' website. The field runs northwest-to-southeast, and has always been natural grass.
The stadium recently underwent a major renovation, including a roof to protect the fans from the elements (but not the players -- shades of the Dallas Cowboys' last 2 stadiums), new video boards, and wider seats. This renovation reduced seating capacity from 75,540 to 65,326.
Post-renovation
It has been home to the Dolphins since 1987; the Orange Bowl game in 1996, 1997, 1998 and since 2000; the University of Miami football team since 2008 (their games were the last thing the Orange Bowl stadium hosted before its demolition to make way for Marlins Park); the Marlins from 1993 to 2011; and the Champs Sports Bowl from 1990 to 2000.
It's hosted 5 Super Bowls: XXIII (1989, San Francisco over Cincinnati), XXIX (1995, San Francisco over San Diego), XXXIII (1999, Denver over Atlanta), XLI (2007, Indianapolis over Chicago, and the only Super Bowl that's yet been rained on) and XLIV (2011, Green Bay over Pittsburgh). Hard Rock Stadium has been awarded Super Bowl LIV, for February 2, 2020.
It has hosted 6 college football National Championship games: 1997-98, Nebraska over Tennessee; 2001-01, Oklahoma over Florida State; 2004-05, USC over Oklahoma; 2008-09, Florida over Oklahoma; 2012-13, Alabama over Notre Dame; and 2015-16, Clemson over Oklahoma. It will host the title game again for the 2020-21 season.
It's also hosted 2 World Series: 1997, Marlins over Cleveland; and 2003, Marlins over, uh, let's move on. It hosted 4 BCS National Championship Games: 2001 (Oklahoma over Florida State), 2005 (USC over Oklahoma), 2009 (Florida over Oklahoma) and 2013 (Alabama over Notre Dame).
The stadium is also a premier U.S. soccer venue. On August 6, 1989, North London giants Arsenal played Argentine club Independiente, each team coming off winning its national league title. Arsenal won, 2-1, but only 10,042 fans came out to see it in the oppressive Summer Florida heat. (Perhaps this is why Arsenal did not play in North America again for 25 years, coming to Red Bull Arena in 2014.) Other major club teams to play there include Mexico's Chivas of Guadalajara; England's Chelsea of London, Everton of Liverpool and Manchester United; Spain's Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia; and Italy's AC Milan, Internazionale and Juventus.
The U.S. national team has played there 4 times: A 1-0 loss to Colombia on April 22, 1990; a 1-1 draw with Bolivia on February 18, 1994; a 3-1 loss to Sweden on February 20, 1994; and a 1-0 win over Honduras on October 8, 2011. Other national teams to play there have been England, Croatia, Mexico, Brazil, Educador, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ghana and South Korea.
UPDATE: It has been selected by FIFA as one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup.
The Three Tenors -- Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras -- sang there on March 8, 1997.
Food. The only information I have about Doak's concessions is that they're run by Aramark, formerly the Harry M. Stevens Company; and that they have Chick-fil-A stands, Coke products rather than Pepsi, and, since it's a college stadium, no alcoholic beverages.
With a great Hispanic, and especially Cuban, heritage, and also being in Southeastern Conference country (hello, tailgating), you would expect the football stadium in Miami to have great food at their stadium. Centerplate runs their concessions, and the stadium renovations include better options.
From the Miami Herald:
* Sloppy Joe's (based on the famous Key West bar) at Sections 106, 144 and 317.
* Kosher Central (Hey, a lot of ex-New Yorker Jews in South Florida) at 111.
* BurgerFi at 114, 124 and 350.
* Craft Beer Tap Room at 117 and 147.
* Versailles (A French theme?) at 119 and 317.
* Sushi Maki at 126.
* Bodega Taqueria at 142, 329 and 345.
* Paradise Cups at 155.
Team History Displays. Up until the late 1970s, the University of Miami had some brief flashes of football glory, but nothing special. Florida State University could only wish they had been even that lucky. Then Howard Schnellenberger arrived in Coral Gables, and Bobby Bowden arrived in Tallahasse, and the rest is history. Relatively recent history, but history nonetheless: Since 1976, FSU is 382-106-23, for a winning percent of .770; since 1980, UM is 332-122, or .731.
This, of course, was complicated by the fact that both teams were longtime independents: You can't win a Conference Championship unless you're in a Conference. Florida State was in the Dixie Conference from 1948 to 1950, then was an independent, and joined the ACC in 1992.
They won the Dixie Conference all 3 years they were in it: 1948, 1949 and 1950. Then they won the ACC in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2013 and 2014; for a total of 15 ACC titles, and 18 Conference Championships. They also won the ACC Atlantic Division in 2010, but lost the ACC Championship Game; they have a 4-1 record in it since it was established in 2005.
And they won National Championships in 1993, 1999 and 2013, while losing what amounted to National Championship Games in 1996, 1998 and 2000. The Moore Athletic Center, at the north end of the stadium, holds their various trophies, and is available for tours, including on game days.
Florida State have retired 10 numbers. Only 25, of receiver Fred Biletnikoff (senior year, 1964), and 34, of receiver Ron Sellers (1968), precede Bowden. The honorees under his tenure have been 50, defensive tackle Ron Simmons (1980); 2, cornerback Deion Sanders, 1988; 27, cornerback Terrell Buckley (1991); 55, linebacker Marvin Jones (1992); 17, quarterback Charlie Ward (1993); 10, linebacker Derrick Brooks (1994); 28, running back Warrick Dunn (1996); and 16, quarterback Chris Weinke (2000). So: 2, 10, 16, 17, 25, 27, 28, 34, 50 55.
(With NFL number restrictions making it impossible for Brooks to wear 10, he chose 55 in honor of Jones, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers retired it for him.)
Bowden, Biletnikoff, Sellers, Simmons, Sanders, Ward and Brooks have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.So was Darrell Mudra, Bowden's immediate predecessor. He took 6 different schools to either a league title or a bowl game (or both), both before and after coaching at FSU. Whatever he did right elsewhere, it didn't work in Tallahassee. Biletnikoff, Sanders, Brooks, and offensive tackle Walter Jones (1996) have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ward (1993), Weinke (2000) and Jameis Winston (2013) won the Heisman Trophy.
The FSU Athletic Hall of Fame has 259 athletes, including 97 football figures. In addition to those already mentioned, names you might recognize include 1990s Green Bay Packers Leroy Butler and Edgar Bennett, 2000s Baltimore Raven Peter Boulware, and a couple of guys who played for FSU back in the 1950s, and were even roommates, but are better known for things other than playing football: Coach turned studio analyst Lee Corso, and actor Burt Reynolds, now far past being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood (as he was in the 1970s and '80s), but still a big Seminole booster (legally, as far as we know). (UPDATE: Burt died on September 6, 2018.)
Among the other members are former baseball stars Johnny Grubb, Terry Kennedy, Paul Sorrento, Luis Alicea, Jody Reed, Doug Mientkiewicz and J.D. Drew; basketball stars Dave Cowens and Sam Cassell; and golfer Paul Azinger.
Also, Dick Howser, the former Florida State player, Yankee coach and manager, and 1985 World Series winner as manager of the Kansas City Royals, who died of a brain tumor in 1987, and whose name is now on the NCAA's player of the year trophy, the baseball equivalent of the Heisman. Also, Ron Fraser, who became one of the great college baseball coaches -- ironically, at Miami.
Each side of Doak Campbell Stadium has a statue. At the north, by Gates A, B, L amd M, by Moore Athletic Center, is one of Bowden, pointing. At the east, by Gate K, is one showing a Seminole Family, the native people of Florida, for whom the team is named. At the west, by Gate C, is one named Sportsmanship, one player helping another up. And at the south, Gates F and G, is one showing their mascot, Chief Osceola, aboard his horse, Renegade, rearing back. The statue is labeled "Unconquered."
Miami was awarded the National Championship for 1983 (after shocking Number 1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl on January 2, 1984), 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001. They also famously lost national championship games (official and otherwise) for 1986, 1992 and 2002. But that 5-3 record is still better than that of their landlords: The Dolphins are 2-3, and, while the Hurricanes have at least been in 2 of these games since January 1993, the Dolphins have been in none.
They joined the Big East in 1991, and won it in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 2001, 2002 and 2003. They joined the ACC in 2004, but have not yet won it: They finished 1st in the Coastal Division in 2012, but due to the previous year's athletic booster scandal, they offered to make themselves ineligible for postseason games in exchange for the NCAA lessening their penalties, which was accepted, and so they have never played in the ACC Championship Game.
Miami won the Orange Bowl (on home soil) in (the season of, not the calendar year of) 1945, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991 and 2003 -- the last of these being the only one since the Orange Bowl game was moved out of the Orange Bowl stadium, and none since the team moved out of the Orange Bowl stadium.
They also won the Sugar Bowl in 1989, 2000; the Cotton Bowl in 1990; the Rose Bowl in 2001; the Gator Bowl in 1951 and 1999; the Liberty Bowl in 1966; the Peach Bowl in 1980 and 2004; the Carquest Bowl in 1996; the MicronPC Bowl in 1998 and 2006; and the Russell Athletic Bowl last year, ending a 10-year drought. The only major bowl they haven't won is the Fiesta Bowl.
Despite their 1980s glory, the Hurricanes appear not to have been considered for the Lambert Trophy, annually given to "the best college football team in the East," until the turn of the 21st Century. But they then won in 4 straight seasons, 2000 to 2003 -- and not since.
Despite all their legends, the Hurricanes have retired only 4 numbers, 2 of them from before their 1980s dynasty: 10, quarterback George Mira, 1963; 14, quarterback Vinny Testaverde, 1986; 26, safety Sean Taylor, 2003; and 89, defensive end Ted Hendricks, 1968.
Despite their record from 1983 onward, Miami is surprisingly underrepresented in the College Football Hall of Fame. From before Schnellenberger's arrival, Hendricks, 1950s running back Don Bosseler, and coaches Jack Harding (1937-47) and Andy Gustafson (1948-63) were elected. From the 1980s onward, Testaverde, safety Bennie Blades, defensive tackle Russell Maryland and quarterback Gino Torretta are in.
But not Mira, or Biletnikoff. Nor Bernie Kosar, the quarterback who led that 1st National Championship. Nor any of the coaches who won National Championships at The U: Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson or Larry Coker.
Testaverde (1986) and Torretta (1992) were awarded the Heisman Trophy. 1950s center Jim Otto, early 1980s quarterback Jim Kelly, late 1980s receiver Michael Irvin, late 1980s defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, and early 1990s defensive tackle Warren Sapp are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not the College Football Hall of Fame. Only Hendricks is in both Halls, although a case for Canton could be made for Maryland.
There is no open display for these titles and player honors at Hard Rock Stadium: The Hurricanes are the tenants, and the Dolphins are the landlords, displaying their honors: The Dolphins Honor Roll, which currently honors the undefeated 1972 team and 26 individuals, including retired number honorees Bob Griese (12), Dan Marino (13) and Larry Csonka (39); and a statue of Marino outside the stadium, with streets named for Marino and longtime coach Don Shula.
The Florida Sports Hall of Fame is located at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale, 232 miles northwest of downtown Miami, and 220 miles northwest of Hard Rock Stadium. Aside from the colleges (Florida, Florida State and Miami), the Dolphins have more honorees than any other team: Robbie, Shula, Griese, Csonka, Warfield, Little, Buoniconti, Anderson, Marino, Moore, 1970s placekicker Garo Yepremian, Griese's 1972-73 backup Earl Morrall (who was the losing Colts quarterback under Shula in the Jets' Super Bowl III win), coach Jimmy Johnson (who's probably in there mainly for his coaching at the University of Miami) and owner Wayne Huizenga.
In 2002, the Florida Sports Foundation created the Florida Cup, to be given to either Florida, Florida State or Miami if it can defeat the other 2 in a single season. Miami got it in 2002, 2003 and 2008; Florida in 2008; and Florida State in 2013. A separate Makala Trophy, named for a Florida-based native tribe, is awarded to the winner of the Florida-Florida State game.
It's a trophy, but it's not really a cup.
Overall, Florida has beaten Florida State and Miami in the same season 16 times: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 2008.
Florida State has beaten Florida and Miami in the same season 14 times: 1964, 1978, 1979, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 -- but has only gotten the Florida Cup in 2013, since that was a year in which the Gates and 'Canes also played each other.
Miami has beaten Florida and Florida State in the same season 13 times: 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1962, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Overall, having met every season since 1958, usually on Thanksgiving weekend, Florida leads Florida State 34-25-2, but the Seminoles have won 6 of the last 7 meetings. This record includes 1994, when the Gators went into Tallahassee and took a 31-3 lead into the 4th quarter, but the Seminoles came back to tie, 31-31.
The old saying "a tie is like kissing your sister" did not apply in this case: For the Seminoles, it was like kissing their sister's really hot best friend; for the Gators, it was like kissing their mother-in-law. "The Choke at Doak" was seen on national television, and was a big reason why overtime was soon instituted in college football, ending ties forever. A rematch was granted for the 1995 Sugar Bowl, and the Seminoles settled it, 23-17.
The record also includes 1996, when FSU, ranked Number 2, beat Number 1-ranked UF at Doak, but UF then won the SEC Championship Game, at which a fan, remembering "The Fifth Quarter at the French Quarter" 2 seasons earlier, held up a sign saying, "GOD WANTS A REMATCH," and the rematch happened at the 1997 Sugar Bowl, and the Gators crushed the Seminoles 52-20, to win the National Championship despite their regular-season loss.
Florida State and Miami have been meeting since 1951, and every season since 1966. Miami leads 31-30, but since avenging their last-play field goal misses in 1991 and 1992 -- Wide Right I and Wide Right II -- from 1993 onward, the Seminoles lead the rivalry 16-9; since 2005, 10-2; since 2010, 7-0.
The Gators-Hurricanes rivalry is no less nasty, making this not a love triangle, but a hate triangle. But the Gators staying in the SEC, while the Hurricanes have gone to the Big East and now the ACC, and the Gators already annually having the Seminoles as a non-league opponent, has pushed this rivalry aside. Except for 1943, they met every year from 1938 to 1987, but only 6 times since then, and 2 of those in bowl games (the 2001 Sugar and the 2004 Peach). The 2013 game is their only meeting since the 'Canes moved to the Dolphin Tank. They are set to meet again in 2019, on neutral soil in Orlando. Miami leads, 29-26, including 12-4 since 1978.
UPDATE: Through the 2019 season, Florida leads Florida State 36-26-2, Miami leads Florida 29-27, and Miami leads Florida State 34-30.
Stuff. The Seminole Sportshop is located at the south end of Doak Campbell Stadium. The University Bookstore is at 104 N. Woodward Avenue, across from the Oglesby Union (the student union), about a 20-minute walk northeast of the stadium.
There's a Dolphins' Team Store on in the Grand Plaza of Hard Rock Stadium, at the south entrance. I don't know if it also sells Hurricanes items. The University of Miami Bookstore is probably a better choice for team stuff, on the Coral Gables campus, at 1306 Stanford Drive, next to the Donna E. Shalala Student Center. (She served as the school's president after previously serving as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Health & Human Services, and before that as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin.
Lew Freedman, who's written books on subjects ranging from Amelia Earhart to the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and on several sports subjects, wrote The Rise of the Seminoles: FSU Football Under Bobby Bowden. And Bruce Feldman wrote Cane Mutiny: How the Miami Hurricanes Overturned the Football Establishment.
The Miami Hurricanes Football Modern Dynasty Series Box Set DVD came out in 2003. Most of the available DVDs about Florida State concern individual seasons, or even individual games.
During the Game. This rivalry is mean! (How mean is it?) Seminole fans like to say, "You can't spell 'SCUM' without 'UM'!" Hurricane fans like to say, "You can't spell 'FSU sucks!' without 'FSU'!" While the 'Canes no longer play in the inner city, the attitude that got their former rivalry with Notre Dame nicknamed "Catholics vs. Convicts" (as if the Fighting Irish were actually innocent) has carried over into the suburban Dolphins stadium. If you go to a 'Noles-'Canes game, get on the home fans' good side, stay that way, and stay away from the visiting fans.
Many college football programs have a ceremonial "spirit walk" into the stadium, and current coach John James "Jimbo" Fisher has introduced it to FSU. Called the War Path, the band, the Marching Chiefs, and the cheerleaders, the Golden Girls, start from the College Town district on Madison Street, and do their thing and head into Doak Campbell Stadium.
Florida State's mascot is Chief Osceola, modeled after the real Chief of that name, who fought the Second Seminole War from 1836 to 1838, when he died from malaria. At the start of every game, he rides an Appaloosa horse, Renegade, onto the field, and holds a burning spear aloft, until reaching midfield, where he dismounts and throws it into the ground. The current leaders of the Seminole Tribe not only do not object to this, as various Native American groups have to the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins names, they sanction it.
They also sanction the War Chant. The Marching Chiefs began it during a 1984 game with Auburn. It is accompanied by a gesture known as the Tomahawk Chop. When Deion Sanders played with the Atlanta Braves, he introduced it to their games, and they use it, too. It's also been adopted by the Kansas City Chiefs, and at least 2 soccer teams, Santos Laguna in Mexico and Galatasaray in Istanbul, Turkey.
"Oh, oh, whoa-oh... whoa-oh... oh, whoa-oh... "
At least they don't use the big red foam tomahawks,
like the Braves' fans use.
Just as Garnet & Gold are colors almost exclusive to Florida State, so, too, is Green & Orange completely identified with the Miami Hurricanes -- although why you would name your team after the worst thing to happen to your area is hard to explain. There's no New York Terrorists or Detroit Riot. Then again, there's teams called the Chicago Fire and the San Jose Earthquakes.
Miami's mascot is Sebastian the Ibis, which debuted as a drawn symbol in 1926 and a costumed mascot in 1957. He was named after San Sebastian Hall, the dormitory that was home to the 1st student to wear the costume, John Stormont. Folklore says that the ibis is the last creature to take shelter before a hurricane hits, and the first to return, the sign that it's safe to do so.
He leads the players out of the tunnel, and they do so bathed in smoke from a dry ice machine, a feature adopted during their 1980s dynasty. At this point, and after every Hurricane score and win, a cannon named Tommy Touchdown is fired.
He wears Number 0. From 1984 to 1992, he was played by John Routh. He left the job because he'd been hired by the Florida Marlins (now the Miami Marlins) to be their mascot, Billy the Marlin. Routh also began Sebastian's now-traditional C-A-N-E-S spellout and cheer. He's now the director of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.
The feathered arrow on Florida State's helmet is a design that was used by the Washington Redskins in the 1960s, and is also common in high schools with variations on "Indian" team names. It's easy enough to understand. So what's the logo on Miami's helmets? Everyone accepts it as a stylized letter U, but what does it mean?
In 1973, the athletic department was looking for a distinctive logo, and any "M" or "UM" could easily have been confused with another school. Publicist Julian Cole, a Miami graduate, and graphic artist Bill Bodehamer, who had previously designed the Dolphins' 1st logo (a green dolphin wearing a white helmet with an orange M on it, jumping through an orange hoop) in 1966, designed the green and orange "split U" logo.
Julian's daughter Lisa Cole said the message of the U logo was, "This is the university," or "The U" for short. It made sense, because this was before Florida Atlantic and Florida International decided to go big and become Miami-area universities with big-time athletic programs: The Hurricanes were it. That it was 1973, the year of the Mets' "Ya Gotta Believe" Pennant, led to the "U Gotta Believe" slogan. (Although the team only went 5-6 that year.)
By 1979, UM President Henry K. Stafford wanted to replace the U logo, but students launched a "Save the U" campaign. It wasn't just the Athletic Department: Other University departments had adopted the logo as a symbol.
In 1992, UM cheerleader Bill Tigano introduced the make-the-U-with-your hands gesture, a.k.a. "Throwing the U," to counter Florida's Gator Chomp and Florida State's Tomahawk Chop. He had a point: It didn't make sense for 2 of the State's Big 3 to have a trademark gesture, and for 1 not to.
Sebastian and Alex Rodriguez "Throwing the U"
A 7-foot, nearly 1,000-pound steel and aluminum "U statue" was dedicated in 2012, with the idea of it being a tourist attraction and meeting point, like the old Yankee Stadium's Big Bat, Michigan State's Sparty statue and USC's Tommy Trojan. It's on the Foote University Green, between the Iron Arrow Mound and "The Rock." (Not to be confused with professional "wrestler" turned actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who played football at Miami.)
After the Game. The area around the Orange Bowl was a bit rough. It still is, despite the new Marlins Park having been built there. But the Dolphins' stadium is an island in a sea of parking. Don't make a nuisance of yourself, and you'll be left alone. The same goes at Doak Campbell Stadium, which doesn't have a reputation for fan misbehavior (except when the Florida Gators are the opponent, and, even then, the animosity is more between the players than the fans).
Lake Bradford Road, southeast of Doak, has several chain restaurants, including McDonald's, Subway, Whataburger, Checkers, Popeye's and Denny's.
As for Miami home games, that whole "island in a sea of parking" thing has its advantage, promoting safety; and its disadvantage, not much in the way of postgame meal-provision. There's some chains on 27th Avenue between 195th and 199th Streets, southwest of the stadium, but that's about it. You might be better off going downtown.
J.C. Wahoo's Sports Bar and Grill is supposedly the home of the South Florida fan club of the Giants. But it's at 3128 N. Federal Highway (yes, the same U.S. Route 1 that goes through The Bronx and New Jersey), between Northeast 31st and 32nd Streets, 40 miles north of downtown -- further north than Fort Lauderdale, or even Pompano Beach, almost up to Boca Raton. It's not even all that close to the stadium.
The South Florida Jets Fan Club meets at Hammerjack's, at 5325 S. University Drive in Davie, a bit closer to the stadium, but still 24 miles north of downtown.
Don't bother looking for Dan Marino's restaurants: They've all closed. He's had financial setbacks, partly due to paying his extramarital baby mama millions of dollars in hush money.
If you visit Miami during the European soccer season (now drawing to a close but starting again in mid-August), the Fado Irish Pub chain has an outlet downtown, at 900 S. Miami Avenue. Brickell on Metrorail, Tenth Street Promenade on Metromover. Another possibility, especially if you're a Liverpool fan, is Churchill's Pub, at 5501 NE 2nd Avenue, 4 miles north of downtown, in Little Haiti. Bus 9.
Sidelights. Dick Howser Stadium, FSU's baseball facility, is just to the north of Doak Campbell Stadium. Their basketball facility, the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, is at 505 W. Pensacola Street, downtown, a mile and a half to the east, along West Madison Street, a.k.a. the "Madison Mile." The 12,000-seat arena opened in 1981 as the Leon County Civic Center, and previously hosted minor-league basketball and hockey.
There is one other major college in Tallahassee, a result of the longstanding segregation that was struck down in the 1960s. This was also true of several other Southern cities. For example: White people in Baton Rouge went to Louisiana State University (LSU), while black people went to nearby Southern University.
So it was with Tallahassee, which has Florida A&M University. The school has a renowned football team, but an even more renowned marching band, sometimes called the best in the country -- and the only schools that tend to dispute it are other "historically black colleges and universities" or HBCUs.
The FAMU Rattlers play football at Bragg Memorial Stadium, at 1500 Wahnish Way, about 2 miles southeast of Doak, and a mile south of the Tucker Civic Center. Built in 1957 and seriously renovated in 1982, it seats 25,000, and a plan has been proposed to further modernize it, and expand it to 35,000.
They've won the Division I-AA National Championship in 1978; and the National Championship of black college football 14 times: 1938, 1942, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1998 and 2001.
From 1945 to 1969, including 8 National Championships, their head coach was Jake Gaither, who said of football players, "I like 'em agile, mobile and hostile" -- pronouncing the last 3 letters like "aisle." But integration came, and, before his death in 1994, he admitted, "Now, if they're agile, mobile and hostile, they go to Florida State."
Some of the agile, mobile and hostile who've played at FAMU: Willie Galimore, Bob Hayes, Ken Riley, Hubert Ginn and Terry Mickens. And then there was the enormous Nate Newton. Well, he was certainly hostile.
Surprisingly for a city its size, Tallahassee has no professional baseball team. Indeed, you gotta drive a long way to get to one. The Class A Florida State League has 12 teams, including the Tampa Yankees and the St. Lucie Mets. But Daytona Beach is the closest of those teams to Tallahassee, and that's 263 miles to the southeast. So it's really the Central and South Florida State League.
The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, formerly the Jacksonville Suns, are 1 step closer to the majors, in the Class AA Southern League, but that's 170 miles east. Also in the SL are the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 197 miles to the west.
The Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts is at 525 W. Tennessee Street (U.S. Route 90). The Museum of Florida History is a block east of the Tucker Civic Center, at 500 S. Bronough Street.
A block east of that is the most important site in Florida's recent history, the State Supreme Court, where a recount of the State's 2000 Presidential vote was ordered by a unanimous 7-0 vote (regardless of the party of the Governor who appointed the Justices), before stopped by a 5-4 vote the U.S. Supreme Court. 500 S. Duval Street.
The State Capitol complex includes a tower that is the tallest building in the city, 345 feet high. 400 S. Monroe Street, a block east of the Supreme Court, and a block south of City Hall. The complex contains a museum.
While several TV series have episodes that mention Tallahassee, no show has ever been set there. The most notable movie set, or filmed, there is
Recount, about the 2000 election.
The Beatles performed in Miami Beach. Elvis Presley sang in Miami, Miami Beach, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Fort Myers, Lakeland, Ocala, Pensacola, Sarasota and West Palm Beach early in his career; and in Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Jacksonville, Hollywood, Lakeland and West Palm Beach later on. But neither the King nor the Fab Four ever gave a concert in Tallahassee.
I've mentioned Miami's sidelights in my entries for the Marlins, the Dolphins, the Heat and the Florida Panthers. You can read them there. But I will make 2 exceptions, for the Hurricanes' old football home, and their basketball home.
Marlins Park was, as I said, built on the site of the stadium known as Burdine Stadium from its 1937 opening until 1959 and the Miami Orange Bowl thereafter. It was best known for hosting the Orange Bowl game on (or close to) every New Year's Day from 1938 to 1995, and the NFL's Miami Dolphins from their debut in 1966 until 1986.
It was home to the University of Miami football team from 1937 to 2007 (famed for its fake-smoke entrances out of the tunnel). It was also the home of, if you count the All-America Football Conference of the 1940s, the first "major league" team in any of the former Confederate States: The 1946 Miami Seahawks. But the black players on the Cleveland Browns would not accept being housed away from their white teammates in segregated Florida, and in that league, what the Browns wanted, the Browns got. So the Seahawks (in no way connected the NFL's Seattle team of the same name) were moved to become the Baltimore Colts after just 1 season.
The Orange Bowl game hosted
de facto National Championships for the seasons of 1938-39, Tennessee over Oklahoma; 19556-56, Oklahoma over Maryland; 1971-72, Nebraska over Alabama; 1981-82, Clemson over Nebraska; 1983-84, Miami over Nebraska; 1987-88, Miami over Oklahoma; 1990-91, Colorado over Notre Dame; 1991-92, Miami over Nebraska; 1993-94, Florida State over Nebraska; and 1994-95, Nebraska finally getting revenge over both Miami and their own history in the building.
The Orange Bowl stadium also hosted the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl, a game involving the 2nd-place teams in each of the NFL's divisions from 1960 to 1969, a charity game, a glorified exhibition. Also known as the Playoff Bowl, it was considered so lame that Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi publicly called it "the only game I never want to win" – and he didn't. The stadium also hosted the Miami Toros of the North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976, including the 1974 NASL Final, which the host Toros lost on penalties to the Los Angeles Aztecs.
And it hosted 5 Super Bowls, most notably (from a New York perspective) Super Bowl III, when the Jets beat the Colts in one of the greatest upsets in sports history, on January 12, 1969. It also hosted Super Bowls II (1968, Green Bay over Oakland), V (1971, Baltimore over Dallas), X (1976, Pittsburgh over Dallas) and XIII (1979, also Pittsburgh over Dallas). All subsequent South Florida Super Bowls, including the one the Giants won in 2012, Super Bowl XLVI, have been held at the Dolphins' stadium.
The U.S. national soccer team played 19 matches at the Orange Bowl, from 1984 to 2004. They didn't do so well, though, winning only 2 of them, drawing 10 and losing 7. And the biggest crowd they could get was 49,000 -- you'd think that, being in a heavily Hispanic city, they could draw "futbol" fans. Instead, most of the Hispanics came to see them play Latin American teams, and root for those teams.
It was also the home of the North American Soccer League's Miami Gatos and Miami Toros, before they moved up I-95 to become the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Arsenal played their 1st game in North America at the Orange Bowl, on May 31, 1972, beating the Gatos 3-2. Only 4,725 attended, which is why you shouldn't schedule a soccer game for Miami during Memorial Day Weekend.
The Orange Bowl was where the Dolphins put together what remains the NFL's only true undefeated season, in 1972. The Canton Bulldogs had gone undefeated and untied in 1922, but there was no NFL Championship Game in those days. The Chicago Bears lost NFL Championship Games after going undefeated and untied in the regular seasons of 1932 and 1942. And the Browns went undefeated and untied in the 1948 AAFC season, but that's not the NFL. The Dolphins capped their perfect season by winning Super Bowl VII, and then Super Bowl VIII.
And yet, despite having reached the Super Bowl 5 times, and Miami having hosted 10 of them, the Dolphins have never played in a Super Bowl in their home region. They've done so in New Orleans, in Houston, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and twice in the Los Angeles area. They also haven't been to one in 33 seasons, which includes all of their history in their new stadium. Curse of Joe Robbie, anyone?
Miami's basketball team played at the Miami Beach Convention Center from 1958 to 1984, the Knight Center auditorium from 1984 to 1988, and the Miami Arena (also the original home of the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers) from 1988 to 2003.
In 2003, The U opened the arena now named the Watsco Center, at 1245 Dauer Drive. It seats 7,972, making it small by ACC standards, but unless the Miami basketball program starts to get as good as the football program used to be, that should be enough. If not, they can shift bigger home games to the downtown American Airlines Arena. It
hosted a Presidential Debate between Bush and John Kerry in 2004.
In 1973, The U opened a new baseball stadium. Hurricanes fan George Light donated the money necessary for its construction, and it's named Mark Light Field, in memory of George's son, who died of muscular dystrophy.
The Hurricanes have reached the College World Series 25 times, and won 4 National Championships: 1982, 1985, 1999 and 2001. This was possible through the work of Ron Fraser, a native of Nutley, Essex County, New Jersey, who coached them from 1962 to 1993. Jim Morris replaced him, and has kept the success going. The school's baseball legends include Alex Fernandez, Danny Graves, Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff and Ryan Braun.
They do not include Alex Rodriguez. Born in Manhattan, A-Rod grew up in Miami, and signed a letter of intent to play baseball at UM, but turned pro instead and never attended. Nevertheless, in 2003, he donated $3.9 million to renovate the baseball complex. In his honor, it was renamed Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. 6201 San Amaro Drive, off Dixie Highway (U.S. Route 1) and Ponce de Leon Blvd.
Unlike St. Louis taking Mark McGwire's name off Interstate 70, the steroid revelations about A-Rod have not affected the ballpark's name. Nor has it forced A-Rod off the University of Miami Board of Trustees.
The entire University of Miami campus is served by the University Station on Miami Metrorail.
For the moment, the tallest building in Miami, and in the entire State of Florida, is the 800-foot Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, which opened in 2003 at 1435 Brickell Avenue. Financial District station on Metromover. But the city's building boom, including the bayfront "Biscayne Wall" is going so quickly that it's about to be surpassed by the 868-foot Panorama Tower, at 1101 Brickell Avenue. Tenth Street Promenade station on Metromover. And that won't last long as the tallest, since it will be surpassed in 2020 by the 1,005-foot One Bayfront Plaza, at 100 S. Biscayne Blvd. Bayfront Park station on Metromover.
The tallest of Miami's older buildings is the Freedom Tower, built in 1925 as the home of the now-defunct Miami News. It now houses Miami-Dade College and a Museum. 600 Biscayne Blvd., downtown, across from the American Airlines Arena. Freedom Tower station on Metromover.
*
Florida State vs. Miami can be a rough rivalry. As Keith Jackson, who broadcast the game for ABC Sports, would say, "These two teams just... don't... like each other." But it is quite the spectacle, worth the trip. So is any game played by either school.
