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Traditions All Our Own Make College Football Special

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By MICK ELLIOTT

melliott@tampatrib.com

Published: November 7, 2008

Updated: 11/08/2008 12:20 am

Where else on Earth can you find a "sod cemetery," or a stadium divided straight down the middle with nobody's colors outside the lines?

Only in the same strange and intoxicating land where you see Hurricane warning flags flying on perfectly beautiful fall afternoons, a rider on horseback in authentic Seminole Indian attire with a flaming spear, the hands-down funkiest marching band in all the land and - daaaa-da, daaaa-da - the Gator Chomp.

Welcome to Florida, where college football is played in the sunshine and honored with traditions, customs and downright weirdness that can only be ours.

"The state of Florida has always been a little bit different on the Southern football landscape," says Tony Barnhart, author of "Southern Fried Football" and longtime college football insider now working for CBS.

"Great traditions, but, whereas the traditions in other parts of the South tend to be more antebellum and refined, in Florida it's more rock 'n' roll. It's more up-tempo. It's more exciting. It's sunshine. It's hip."

The level of college football in the state has long spoken for itself. Florida State, Florida and Miami have multiple national championships. Nine Florida universities are playing Division I, including upstart South Florida, a program that in less than 15 years moved from nonexistent to nationally recognizable.

But that's not what we're talking about. It isn't whether you win or lose; it's how you celebrate the game.

Check out these snapshots:

A Chief, A Horse And A Spear

FSU calls this the most spectacular tradition in college football. Few argue. Before each Seminoles home game, Chief Osceola charges down the field riding an Appaloosa horse named Renegade and plants a flaming spear at midfield.

The tradition began in 1978 and has spanned five horses and 13 riders. "Osceola" is an FSU student selected after an extensive interview process that includes a written essay on Seminole Indian history.

Tallahassee businessman and FSU booster Bill Durham, who had trained riders and horses for 20 years, is credited with creating the tradition, suggesting it to Bobby Bowden after the coach's first season.

Faced with rebuilding a sagging program, Bowden was looking for a way to build game-day excitement.

"We're privileged that the Seminole tribe has been so supportive of us from the beginning," said Allen Durham, who has taken over the pregame production for his father. "Dad had the foresight to go and request their permission, and I have a great amount of respect and thanks to the Seminoles for allowing us to start this tradition and continue it today."

Keeping Them Separated

This is Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on the first Saturday of November. You will notice almost exactly half of the stadium in orange and blue. The other half is black and red. The lines are drawn right down the middle of the goal posts.

That means it's the Florida-Georgia game.

"I tell our players, the greatest experience you will ever have as college football players is to walk into that stadium and see 50-50 right down the middle," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "The first time I saw it, I could not believe it - right down the middle of the uprights."

Marching To Their Own Beat

Nothing rocks like Florida A&M's Marching 100, the undisputed star at Rattlers football games. The band has performed at numerous Super Bowls, in television commercials, parades and at the Grammy Awards.

The Marching 100 is credited with many innovations that have become standard practice in its field - from fast-marching to animated formations to modern-day music. They are often referred to as one of the most imitated bands in the world.

And they are the stars of football Saturdays.

"They are coming to see you," band director Dr. Julian White often reminds his performers.

And they practice as hard as any football team.

"It's extremely demanding, physical, and requires tremendous endurance," White said. "Just like being a football player."

Smoke And Intimidation

Where there's smoke ... there's the Miami Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes know how to make an entrance. The team takes the field through a large cloud of white smoke billowing from its entrance tunnel, amid a tape of a hurricane wind blasting through the sound system. The smoke comes from a series of pipes welded together by school transportation director Bob Nalette in the 1950s and it is composed simply of fire extinguisher exhaust.

Burying The Memories

What Florida State's Sod Cemetery may lack in excitement, it more than compensates for with its uniqueness.

In 1962, the Seminoles were preparing for a road game at Georgia. At the end of practice before leaving the next day, Dean Coyle Moore, a longtime professor and athletic board member, spoke to the team and urged them to "bring back some sod from between the hedges at Georgia."

FSU upset the Bulldogs 18-0, and Seminoles captain Gene McDowell pulled a piece of sod from Sanford Stadium and later presented it to Moore.

Since that day, after any upset of a ranked team on the road, the Seminoles return to Tallahassee with a piece of visiting turf that is then buried in their Sod Cemetery.

Chomping At The Bit

Chomp, chomp. Nothing says UF football more than the Gator Chomp.

The routine started shortly after the movie "Jaws," and the menacing theme music that helped make it famous, came out in 1975.

One day, the Florida band began playing the daaaa-da, daaaa-da and fans soon were chomping along.

"Now it's so well known even opponents love to do it to taunt the Gators," UF historian Norm Carlson said. "Nobody else anywhere has that one. The Gator Chomp is recognized around the country."

(813) 281-2534.

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