Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
January 5, 2017 3:02 p.m.
Before Christmas I said I’d write about the Orange Bowl. Where to start? Well, my Michigan Wolverines lost to Florida State 33 to 32. Of their 32 points, 23 came in the last quarter when the offense decided to join the game. Of those 23 points, 10 came in the last 8 minutes. We left with 6 minutes to go because of the next issue – we were freezing. So much for sunny Florida.
We were in the third tier of the Hard Rock Stadium. That’s where you can be on a first name basis with the guys in the Goodyear Blimp. The temperature was probably in the high 40’s with a wind chill that made it feel half that temperature. We figured whatever Michigan was going to do; it probably wasn’t going to change the outcome. Florida State didn’t actually distinguish themselves but they did shut down Michigan’s offensive game. In fairness to the Wolverines, at least one of their stars sat out the game because of a hamstring injury sustained in practice. He is also a likely first round pick in the NFL draft.
We went to the Michigan Tail Gate party, announced as the largest tail gate party in the country. With over a half million alumni, I’m not surprised. The ages ranged from recent grads to folks in my age group and older. Almost everyone was sporting Michigan colors – maize (also known as yellow) and blue. Some of the outfits were incredible. Imagine someone sporting a jacket and pants in yellow and blue with bold face Ms all over it. A man with a baseball cap that had a yellow and blue wolverine head on it. Or someone in a yellow and blue adult onesie.
There was some solace at the game. The Michigan Marching Band was better. When I was at the university, the football team was not stellar but we could always count on the band to outdo the other team. In fact there were times we gave up on going to the game and just went in at half time to see the band. Another bit of solace came after the game. Our arch rival, Ohio State, got shut out (for the first time in years) by Clemson. Not a statistic I ever thought I would hear.
Despite the score and the cold, I’m glad I went. My daughter and grandchildren held up pretty well and were suitably excited to see a bowl game. My granddaughter got yellow and blue face painting that she slept in that night. Post season bowl games seem a uniquely American tradition. Something to cheer about, no matter the outcome.
Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.
Ms McDonald,
Where I enjoyed your article, in the 2nd paragraph you referred to the team you played as, Florida State, which is not correct.
The team you played were the the Gators from the University of Florida. Florida State University, are the Seminoles, a completely different university, and a completely different team.
well, I’m looking at the photo I posted and you can see the left end zone has the Florida State colors and name. The team was led out by someone on a paint horse with Indian dress so the Seminoles were largely in evidence. The University of Florida is the Gators and they played elsewhere.