The annual Orange Bowl parade was a big part of the pageantry surrounding the game throughout its first 60 years 4
ORANGE BOWL HISTORY BIG DREAMS TO BIG TIME H urricanes and Huskers Seminoles and Sooners Some of the biggest games and biggest names in college football history have helped make the Orange Bowl one of the most celebrated events in sports The game dates to the mid-1930s Like many US cities at the time Miami Florida was struggling through the Great Depression Local businessmen were trying to attract tourists and boost the economy The Rose Bowl in California stood alone on the college football stage But if California could have a bowl game people in Miami figured Florida could too It already had sunshine beaches and palm trees Throw in a New Year’s Day game as the featured attraction 1 5
That would sound pretty good to northerners considering a winter vacation Miami was once a quiet fishing village on the Atlantic coast of Florida Today it is a fast-moving glamorous metropolis Like the city itself the Orange Bowl grew from a modest beginning It owes much of its success to a tireless promoter named Earnie Seiler The Palm Festival was the original name of this game Seiler once stood on the street encouraging people to come in for free to fill the bleachers After that two-year warm-up the first Orange Bowl was played on January 1 1935 when Bucknell beat the University of Miami The Bison were so concerned about the tropical heat they brought 280 gallons 1,060 L of their own water from Pennsylvania to stay hydrated The water may have helped because Bucknell won 26 0 The 1939 game truly made the Orange Bowl a big time event thanks to Seiler’s persuasion He wanted the mighty Oklahoma Sooners to play in that year’s game So he traveled to Oklahoma to make his case plastering posters and sidewalk-chalk messages around campus The Sooners were impressed They took less money than other bowls were offering and agreed to come to Miami to play against the Tennessee Volunteers 6
Billy Jefferson of Mississippi State plunges through a crowd of Georgetown defenders to score a touchdown in the 1941 Orange Bowl By the mid-1950s the game was broadcast on national television The pregame parade was shown on TV too The floats got brighter The hype grew louder The party got bigger Seiler even brought in fans to spread the scent of orange blossom perfume from the top of the stadium The fancier the better he believed The Orange Bowl eventually signed a contract with the Big 8 Conference to give its champion often Nebraska or Oklahoma an automatic invitation to Miami That Nebraska Oklahoma rivalry grew into one of the most intense in the country It was so intriguing that 7
