First Article of Faith and Once There Was A Snowman

I asked Kappy today if she could recite the First Article of Faith. She said she couldn't. Caroline reminded her that they had just gone over it in Primary yesterday. Kappy's response: "Oh yeah. Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman. Once there was a snowman. Tall. Tall. Tall."

Ginny's Addition the FSU Post

Ginny's addition to the Initial FSU Post. The last sentence in her post is telling.

I am reminded of FSU football, constantly, that I should never have anything even remotely big happen in my life during the fall, otherwise no one will notice it. Mark and I scheduled our September 2004 wedding so that it would not conflict with any of the FSU football games. We found a weekend that they had a bi-week and planned for then, even though it was the day before an historically tragic day, September 11. Unfortunately for us, but in accordance with my “Hamburger B” luck, one of FSU’s previous games was cancelled due to Hurricane Charley, I believe, and was rescheduled for what other day than September 10th! Luckily it was in the afternoon, so everyone attended our sealing in the Salt Lake City temple in the morning, but were scarce at our reception. Everyone was up in the barn where someone had found a small TV, watching the FSU game.

The only other memories I have were of finding a beer soaked pom-pom at one of the games, and I think I put it in my hair, since that is what everyone else was doing. YUCK! There was the BYU vs FSU game at the Jacksonville Jaguar stadium, that we all went to see when Jared had just returned from his mission, and the guy sitting behind us splashed beer onto my back. We were frightened to drive home because of all the drunken people that were driving home. OH, we sat on the FSU side. Was that morally wrong to do? Anyway, I also remember all the Christmas’ receiving FSU shirts, and was excited one year that I got the She-ra underwear and tank for Christmas istead. I think I have had my fill of football, and that’s why I don’t like it very much, but Mark and I rarely miss an FSU game. It just doesn’t feel right to be doing something else when I know everyone else is watching the FSU game.

Jared's Addition to the FSU Post

Jared's addition to the Initial FSU Post:

I too feel like it was more than time for Bowden to retire. That isn't taking anything away from what he did. When you hear a guy like Pete Carrol say that what he accomplished in the 14 years will never happen again you know he did something special. I always hear Bowden talk about death after coaching. I think maybe he is afraid to die and that is why he held on so long.

My first memories of Florida State football were way back in the day when every game wasn't on tv. In fact not many were. If you didn't have tickets to the game or it was away, we were listening to it on the radio. That is where Gene Deckerhoff comes in. The man has the best voice for play by play on the radio ever. I can remember going to my ear during the FSU games and I would have my own football and I would try and re-enact the plays my self while he was calling the games. I am sure everyone in my family remembers me outside throwing the football to myself. Just so yall know a lot of those drops were on purpose because that is what had happened in the game.

I too remember the Seminole Rap. The Deion days are the start of my memories and probably the first player I remember. I can still see the skinny dude with a towel hanging down past his knees pointing to the end zone on a punt. Sure enough he took it back for a touchdown. Take that Babe Ruth. After Deion and for the next few years at least FSU had some of the best defenses ever, which made this year so hard to watch. That all changed when Charlie Ward came in with the "fast break" offense. To my knowledge FSU was the first team to use the no huddle offense outside the last two minutes of a game. The 1993 season was a blast to watch except for the second to last game against Notre Dame which we need to thank Boston College for coming in the next week and beating them. I also remember the 31-31 win we had over Florida. We can call it a win because we went and got them in the bowl game. We were down 31-3 going into the fourth quarter. We lived in Orem and everyone in our family had given up hope. I always go down with the ship so of course I am staying to watch. After we got the score to within two scores I waited for a commercial and went to round up the troops. At first there was some resistance to them coming back to watch it. Then we scored again and were within one score. I was successful in getting them back to watch the final touchdown for the tie.

I missed a national championship while on my mission. I do remember looking forward to the newspaper clippings that my family would send during that season.

I had to let Stacy know why Florida State football was such a big part of our lives during the fall. I called Travis and asked if he could get us some tickets to the first game of the season. FSU vs. Miami. Beside the Florida game there isn't a bigger game on the schedule so I thought that would be a good game to take her to. It was a night game on a Monday so Jason took us fishing. Jason caught a tarpon over 6 feet long and let me reel it in while he directed the boat towards the fish. Obviously I am naive because besides seeing the fish jump out of the water a few times I didn't realize how rare a catch of that size was. Jason asked me when we were going home from fishing if I would like to have that fish or an FSU win. It wasn't close and to Jason's surprise I said a Florida State win for sure. Well luckily I got both that year. After a four year streak of losing to the Canes Florida State pull out a 3 point win after Miami bobbled a snap on a tying filed goal. It was great for Stacy to see how almost all of Tallahassee shuts down on game day. All the cars have something FSU on them and most people in the mall have on FSU gear.

After having a successful trip to see FSU in Tallahassee we decided to go to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. Same results only it was a crowed that heavily favored UCLA. In fact one of the guys sitting next to us wasn't shy about telling the people he was with how much he hated Florida State and all their fans.

Mom's Addition to the FSU Post

Mom's addition to the Initial FSU Post:

When Traci was still in diapers, we had gotten pretty excited about FSU. The team had a pep rally at the Tallahassee Mall. We were there for quite some time trying to get as many autographs as possible. Dad had Traci on his shoulders and pushing Rob in a stroller. I had Travis by the hand. As we were scurrying around to get team autographs, Traci wet through her cloth diaper and soaked Dad's whole back. We continued to get autographs but it was easier to get them as Dads soaked in urine back) seemed to clear some of the fans out.

Soon after Travis went on his mission, I saw Coach Bowden and his wife in a restaurant. I went over and told him I had a son who was a great punter in high school. He asked me to have him come see him. I told him he was on a 2 year mission for our church in California. He told me very seriously "have your son come see me when he comes home from his mission". We moved to Utah the month Travis came home from his mission.

Dad and I had season tickets when Mudra was the coach at FSU. We were always there with the other 9 couples who attended (actually about 9,000 but with all the empty seats, it seemed like 10 couples). I don't remember ever seeing FSU win but we were there. Needless to say it was a lot more fun to attend the games when Bowden and Burt Reynolds got things rolling for FSU. It got more expensive and harder to get tickets as the winning began.

One Saturday, the Young Women were doing free babysitting at the Stake Center. After we dropped Travis, Rob and Traci off, we somehow ran into 2 Elders. They needed a ride somewhere and as we were talking to them realized it was our anniversary. We knew FSU was playing a home game so we went to the stadium to try to get in. A gator fan noticed we were trying to get tickets and he had 2. Dad told him we only had a $20. He gave us the tickets and we sat by him in the end zone. He bought us a program and 2 drinks but at least we were in to see the game.

I was over 7 months pregnant with Rich. As the thick crowd was leaving the stadium, I heard a cop yelling way behind us "stop him, stop him". I was yelling for dad to stop him as he was running past us through the crowd but dad had been pushed a little way behind me because of the crowd. I was much closer to the suspect than dad and ran over thinking I could trip him as dad was yelling at me to stop or I would get hurt. About that time the cop started firing into the air (which made me stop) but it only made the suspect run faster until he was up the hill by the tracks and out of site. We stayed up most of the night talking about the events of the evening; free babysitting that just happened to be on our anniversary that we had forgotten, 2 missionaries who happened to ask how long we had been married, a gator fan who happened to have 2 tickets and me saying for hours "I should have had him".

Another sold out game, we had seats in the nosebleed section. One guy had alcohol smuggled under his shirt in an enema bag. We weren't sure why he even paid money to go to the game. We noticed him sucking that enema bag dry. We were sitting on the top bleacher. He made it known he needed a restroom. He turned and came up a couple rows to the very top bleacher and started to zip his pants down to relieve himself over the edge. The whole crowd started yelling at him "no, not here" because there was a pretty brisk wind blowing back at us. Other than these 2 insidents, we had very enjoyable times for many years going to the FSU games or watching it on TV with family.

Aim's Addition to the FSU Post

Aim's Addition to the Initial FSU Post:

I remember buying watered-down, expensive cokes from the boy scouts. Little did I know that years later I would be marrying one of them.

After the games we would always collect plastic FSU cups which were often filled with Tobacco or alcohol. We didn't care, we collected the filthy cups anyway, piling them way up high.

My parents are die-hard 'nole fans. I recall my dad made us sit through one extremely cold Peach Bowl game in Atlanta, GA where it was a chilling 24 degrees. While all the rest of the not-so-faithful fans decided to leave the game at half-time, we stayed. In order to avoid frost-bite, my sisters, mom and I spent the entire 4th quarter huddled around a heater we found in one of the bathrooms inside the stadium.

My parents taught us to love our neighbors, but that it was perfectly fine to be a "gator hater." Every time the Gators would beat us I remember the phone would ring and inevitably my Aunt Linda would be on the other end calling my dad to gloat.

I remember hanging out around the flag pole talking to my friends through most of the games while I was in middle school. I too remember the sticky walk up the metal garnet and gold ramps towards the nose-bleed section of the stadium. I also remember getting nearly trampled under foot after the games by the drunken fans.

I remember Fred-the-Seminole-head, who is now dead...no rhyme intended.

I remember seeing grown men with no shirts on covered in garnet and gold paint from head to toe, making total fools out of themselves and thinking they still had on more clothes than most of the women in the stadium.

I remember thinking it was so cool that I knew several of the guys who owned and were riding Renegade, and wishing I could ride. I liked watching Chief Osceola and Renegade pace back and forth in the end zone and throwing the fiery spear into the Seminole head in the center of the field. I always wondered why he speared himself.

I remember one of my sisters getting one of those mini-foam footballs tossed up into the stadium from one of the cheerleaders.

I remember doing the wave.

Since I was three years old, we lived a few blocks away from the Bowden's. They still live there in a pretty gold brick house. I would always look over at their house every time I passed by hoping to see them out in the yard, but I never did, not even once. I kind-of felt like I knew the Bowden's even though we've never met.

I remember going to Miami when I was very young for the Orange Bowl. We went to the Orange Bowl Parade and it was incredible. I remember returning to the FedEx Orange Bowl in 1994 for National Championship. This was the most incredible football game I have ever seen. I remember Charlie Ward was the quarterback. We were on our feet yelling at the top of our lungs for the entire 4th quarter. I remember when I thought we had won, and watched all the fans surge onto the field. Bobby Bowden got doused with Gatorade, and then my heart sank when the ref. stated the game was not yet over. I thought we might lose, but we won when Nebraska missed the field goal.

After I had been a registered nurse for one year, I went back to school to get my BSN from Florida State. I knew that when I graduated I would only get a ten cent raise, but still it felt great just knowing I had graduated from FSU since I always wanted to achieve this goal...I truly am a nole!

I remember one night Travis, Stephen and Jacob and I went out to eat at a restaurant in Tallahassee. Travis looked at me with this shocked look on his face, and said, while pointing through the seat, "Aim, Charlie Ward and Warrick Dunn are sitting right over there." They were two booths over from us. When we were leaving we asked them to sign their autographs on the back of our receipts "for our sons."
I remember in 2004 when the name of the football stadium was changed from "Doak Campbell Stadium" to "Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium."

I remember when they started calling Gene Deckerhoff "Golden Throat." I went to school with his son Eric for many years.

I remember we heard that Ron Simmons was going to be at the Garnet and Gold store in the mall signing autographs. Travis, Stephen and I went and stood in a long line. When we got up to him, he ended up letting Travis sit down next to him so he could talk to him about Travis' Uncle Walter Blount the rest of the time while the rest of the people came through.

We got to meet Andre Wadsworth while he was doing some sort of community service project at Publix. We took his picture with Stephen when he was a baby.I remember losing the FSU v Miami game three years in a row in the last minute due to wide right, left, right (I think).

I will never forget the shocked feeling I felt and the look on Dan Mowrey's face when he missed the field goal again. I remember thinking that could have been Travis, had he not chosen to go on a mission. I remember hearing about the death threats and counseling Dan had to go through as a result. I still wish the media would let it go.

Every year when the weather first changes from hot summer days to cool autumn days, the first thing I think of is FSU football.

I still get really excited every time I hear the booming drum beat from the Marching Chiefs. I will never be able to resist doing the chop and singing "ho-ho-hoa-ho, then go Seminoles, fight team fight, scalp 'em, win."

Thank you Bobby B, it's been a sweet ride!

Dad's Addition to the FSU Post

Dad's addition to the Initial FSU Post:

I worked with Sol Carrol's wife at the state. He was the self proclaimed #1 Seminole Fan. He was a retired sporting goods salesman from New York and moved to Tallahassee to be near FSU. He was always bringing us coupons to fast food stores. He went to everything FSU. He died of a heart attack on the fan bus on the way to an FSU football game, the 1983 Peach Bowl. A side note can be read about Sol on sectionb.com which is about him naming the "Animals" at the FSU baseball field.

When Bowden was first hired, he stepped up to the podium in front of a packed house at his first introduction to the FSU booster club and said "Beat the Gators". It brought down the house and he didn't have to say anything more.

Travis had a connection with FSU on the day he was born. Mom went into the hospital at about 2:00 A.M. It was a Saturday and I know the day of the week because FSU was playing a game that afternoon. I figuered Mom would be done having Travis in plenty of time to see the game. Not so. Travis didn't come until late in the afternoon and they didn't have TV's in the labor room. What made it even worse is they didn,t have a place for me to sit so I sat on a step stool and leaned my head against the wall and fell asleep. When I woke up my tailend and the back of my head had fallen asleep and I couldn't move. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced. I had to just fall over on the floor and wait till all my body parts woke up before I could move. Not sure of what kind of FSU fan I was to let the birth of my first child and son get in the way of missing an FSU game.

Another neat story is when Robby found a $10 gold piece at an FSU game. When we were selling sodas at the games, after the games the scouts would scour the stands to see if there was any money dropped. I had the guys go out and get empty cups for me so I could make our inventory come out correct(I found out the hard way that the consession people at FSU shorted all the cup boxes). While they were gathering me cups they would find loose change and bills people had dropped. Dax or Dusty had the record of finding a $20 bill until an FSU/ Miami game. Robby found the $20 gold piece in the stands about 30 rows on the 50 yard line. Mom wanted it for a necklace but somehow it ended up in Darrons treasure chest.

This one is a little rarity that I remember from when I was going to FSU. In 1969 thru 1971 a member of the church who was studying some type of sports at FSU was on the gymnastics team and also dressed up like an indian for the football games and would perform with the cheerleaders. I can't remember his name but Aunt Pat might. He was short, about 5'6", and could do forward flips the length of the field without stopping. I don't know what FSU officially called him but the guy I knew was just one of several who did this before they started Chief Osceola and Renegade.

The Seminole Head is the silhouette of Bro. Wright who also wrote the Seminole Fight Song. He directed the performance of the song recently as his first and only time directing the Florida State Band. You forgot the first time we showed any interest as a family in FSU football when we drove to Campbell Stadium late at night when FSU beat Florida after a 10 year drought. We weren't alone, there were 10,000 other people there with us. Thanks for the memories. Dad

Rob's Addition to the FSU Post

Rob's addition to the Initial FSU Post:

For me, the seminole memories are more of a feeling than anything else. That is because during our growing up years the seminoles went from being literally a circus act (which other college football program ever had a circus to attract fans) to being one of the best football programs in the history of NCAA football. Because of the seminoles' rise, there was and still is a feeling that anything in life is possible and can be achieved with all-out effort. Sure, the noles had the Charlie Ward and Warrick Dunn years, but who can forget clutch QB's like Casey Weldon, Danny Kannel, and Thad Busby. Their individual effort was incredible. There were close games where the seminoles were down in the 4th quarter and there was just no need to worry. We all knew that the seminoles would play way above their heads and never choke. Also, who can forget the Jamal Reynolds/Andre Wadsworth quarterback meetings. They took out quarterbacks and shut down high powered offenses game after game. When will there ever again be 2 All-American d-ends on the same team at the same time? There are too many players to list on FSU's defense during the late '80's to late '90's that single-handedly impacted games with turnovers, hard hits, incredible speed and tackling, and just all-out effort. These guys played with heart and probably made coaching really easy. I don't remember anything that looked like it needed more practice back then, except the kicking game only at the wrong times. I am headed to Jared's to watch the noles and try to bring back some of that feeling. Robby