More to Love About Tampa:
The University of South Florida football team
I was there, nine years ago tomorrow, for the Bulls' first ever football game. To quote one of my coworkers, USF is the biggest school in the nation - top 20 in enrollment - that no one has ever heard of. Obviously football is a very easy way to get your name out there, and it was fairly amazing that a school this size in a football-rich state like Florida did not yet have a team. But on September 25, 1996, we had a team. And our team won 80-3. Sure, the Bulls beat a fantastically overmatched Kentucky Wesleyan team; but it was our team. The team had a meteoric rise to Division 1-A. They even got a stadium upgrade when the NFL team moved into Raymond James Stadium. Sure, we have yet to make it to a bowl game (though we've come close), and most of the games we've played against big programs have resulted in losses. In the grand scheme of things however, it's pretty hard not to be proud of what the team has been able to accomplish in their relatively short existence.
And then we beat Louisville.
Our first game in the Big East Conference. The fact that USF was in a major conference after not even ten years was supposed to be success enough going into a game against the 9th ranked team in the entire nation, a team that most experts were granting an undefeated season. Most (including myself, I am sad to say) could agree that simply covering the 21-point spread would be victory enough against the Cardinals. Even the Oracle, the USF school newspaper, had a hard time eschewing realistic expectations for home-team spirit.
Fortunately, Jim Leavitt and his team didn't seem concerned with conventional wisdom.
It's hard to believe that another college football team could ever make any noise in Florida, land of the Big 3. But when you consider how many fantastic high-school football programs call the Tampa Bay area home, let alone what they've already been able to accomplish, it's not unreasonable to believe USF could soon be a program that everyone has heard of. After tonight's game and the airtime they've already received on ESPN, we may already be on our way.
45-14. It wasn't even that close. Congratulations, guys - GO BULLS!
Oh come on baby now
You can tell the cops why
- The Dismemberment Plan, "Girl O' Clock"
Posted by Joel at 9/24/2005 11:24:00 PM
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