OttawaBull

My brother-in-law is going to be down from Canada (Newfoundland) on vacation in Miami and Tampa with some of his friends, and they have plans to see the Bucs, the Dolphins, and USF play. Busy week, I know. The concept of tailgating is pretty foreign up here so they are looking forward to experiencing it to its fullest in the US. He asked me for advice, since I lived in Tampa, but it's been so long since I lived there (1998), I have no idea of where the best places are to go pre-game. That said, I was hoping I could get some help from the board. Any advice on where to park, when to get there, what to bring, etc, would be great. I should point out that the demographic of my brother-in-law and his friends is early 20s. This trip is actually their university graduation gift. So keep that in mind. If there is anything different they should know for tailgating at a Bucs game, that would be useful as well. Finally, if anyone happens to know anything about tailgating at Dolphins' games in Miami, any info you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I was going to make a snide remark before realizing we were 2-5 in conference play last year and only 4-3 the year before so it's not like we are stellar in conference. That said, I would stop watching USF Football if we ever went back to C-USA. Hell, I'll watch CFL before I watch that crap.

Actually, Canadian women tend to be pretty hot, although I don't think anyone compares to Florida girls (maybe Cali girls?). For some reason, though, northeastern US women are more often than not pretty harsh looking. I say this after living in Massachusetts for 7 years back in the 80s. Hmm, I've really gone off-topic here. Go Bulls!

Okay, it was definitely the Sun Dolls. Is the dance team supposed to be hotter than the cheerleaders? Btw, my compliments go to whoever took photo 84 in the Sun Dolls album. That girl has fine assets.

Just a few observations from my first live Bulls game in over 4 years (think my last one was the upset over Northern Illinois way back when): 1) Our defense rocks. I can only remember 3 times Syracuse even got past the 50 yard line. I jokingly told my wife that if Syracuse got a TD each time they crossed the halfway mark, we still would have beat them 28-21 today. 2) We really, REALLY need to diversify our offense. Yes, our running game is powerful, but if we face a team that can shut us down on the ground, I don't think 5 for 12 and 88 yards in the air is gonna cut it. Is this the OC's fault or just one of PJ's limitations? 3) Penalties are still aggravating, 4 years after I can first remember complaining about them. No biggie in a game like this, but if we're playing a team of equal strength, this will bite us in the butt. 4) Syracuse has a really nice-looking campus, very northeastern traditional with the ivy-covered brick buildings. The Dome was pretty cool since the only other dome I've been in was the Georgia Dome. Major props to the school for making the parking situation very efficient. We were on the shuttle to the parking lot, in our car, and back on the highway within 10-15 minutes after leaving the stadium. 5) I haven't seem them up close before, but good god, the Sun Dolls are smoking hot. At least I assume they are the SDs and not the cheerleaders. They were wearing black and gold uniforms. Living up north for so long, I forgot just how beautiful good ol' Florida girls could be. That's all I've got for now. One more night in Syracuse, lots of outlet shopping tomorrow, and then the short drive back to Ottawa. I look forward to coming back in 2007.

I'll add my vote that those things are incredibly stupid. We went to a couple of OHL (minor league hockey) playoff games last year, and they were handing them out to everybody. I already had a bit of a headache going in, but by the end of the game, I really wanted to commit violence toward a couple of kids behind me (or more precisely, their parents). I'd rather have the friggin' wave.

Living in Canada finally pays off! It's only about a 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive from Ottawa, so I'm finally getting to my first away game since Georgia Southern many, many moons ago. On the negative side, apparently Syracuse has a bunch of outlet malls that my wife will be dragging me to for the rest of the weekend. Bah.

Based on what I've read above, is it reasonable to assume that the Syracuse game is likely to start no later than 1? We're making a weekend trip down to Syracuse with some other people, and plans may change based on whether it is an afternoon or night game.

Thanks for the replies! Guess I'll see some of you in November.

Hey all, I haven't been around since the last football season ended, so forgive me if this subject has already been discussed. I'm planning to make the 3-hour drive down to the Syracuse game and also fly to the UCONN game. I'm wondering how I go about buying tickets from here so that I'm sitting with the USF fans and not the home team. The only other away game I've ever been to was way back when against Georgia Southern, but Mike G bought the tickets that time. Any info y'all can provide would be appreciated. Thanks!

So if two high school kids have sex, it's a misdemeanor? Jeez, most of the people I knew in HS would have been arrested back in the day, I guess.

Man, I WISH it was 30 degrees here.

Having lived in Massachusetts for over 7 years and knowing several high school friends who went there (Amherst, the main campus), I'm kind of surprised UMass isn't 1-A. If UConn can have a 1-A team, I don't see any reason UMass, which has over 20,000 students, can't either. They'd be my vote for the next BE team. I guess it doesn't hurt that my mom lives less than an hour from the campus.

Bah, I spent Christmas at my wife's family's place WAY up in Labrador, Canada. Two days after Christmas it dropped down to -48 C (-54 F, yes, it reverses at about -40). So at 10 PM that night, I did what anybody else who was born and raised in Los Angeles and spent another 10 or so years in the South would do...I stripped down to a T-shirt and boxers and ran around the snowbanks in their backyard for over a minute. I even got pictures! That gave new meaning to hard nipples.

Gotta be the best graphic in recent memory.