Dec. 26, 2001
Photo Gallery
By Jason Yellin
Maryland Athletic Media Relations
The day was finally here -- Dec. 26 -- the day the Terps would be leaving for Miami to head to the Orange Bowl, capping off an amazing season for the 2001 ACC Champions and National Coach of the Year Ralph Friedgen.
It was an early start for the Terps and support staff. Equipment manager Ron Ohringer was at the Gossett Team House around 6:20 a.m. to help the load-up of the baggage for the staff and coaches.
After the loading of the bags was finished with the sky still dark, the Terps headed off in a caravan of six buses with the team and staff to BWI Airport. It was sure to be an exciting trip to Miami and one of business -- competing in the Orange Bowl.
Led by a police escort, the Terps left campus at 7:45 a.m. Among the fans on hand to wish the Terps good luck was super fan Special K, who had a special sign "No Fear Here" to show his overwhelming support for the team.
Maryland's traveling party of 215 boarded its Delta charter plane, a Boeing 767 ready for the flight.
With mostly clear skies ahead, the Terps took off at 9:40 a.m.
On the flight, everyone was treated to a showing of "The Score" as well as a breakfast and early lunch featuring cheese steaks and apple pie.
Terps Hit A Cool Miami
Flying high above the eastern sea board, the team enjoyed the flight and landed down at Miami International Airport at 12:15 p.m.
As we landed the pilot announced the temperature at 61 degrees.
Brrrrrr.
Forget the t-shirts and shorts, it was time to break out the sweaters and pants.
Well, it was cold for Miami, no 80-degree temperatures were in sight on Dec. 26 in South Florida. The natives were bundled up in coats the way we back in Maryland react with sub-30 degree temps.
The Terps boarded their six-bus caravan with a police escort from both Florida and Maryland officers and headed to the hotel.
After a 30-minute ride, the Terps reached their home for the next week - the Fontainebleau Hilton in Miami Beach.
The hotel is one of the most famous in the South Beach area as every president since Dwight Eisenhower has stayed there along with legends such as Frank Sinatra.
Interestingly, the president the last time the Terps played in the Orange Bowl in 1956 was -- you guessed it -- Ike.
Heading into the hotel all of the staffers were wearing Fridge Fever t-shirts making the Terps feel right at home.
The Terps were greeted by a throng of media at the hotel. Coach Friedgen stopped for a few minutes to answer some questions. Here's a small sampling of his comments to the media.
"The opportunity to go to the Orange Bowl is a dream come true for these kids and we are happy to be here. We know how hard we worked for this dream to come true. ... We know what we have to do here and why we are here in Miami, we will enjoy the trip, but this is a business trip."
On the Terps' opponent: "Florida is a great team, they are one game from playing in the national championship game, they have a lot of great players. ...With the BCS system you have to play great teams and they have a great team with a lot of speed.
On his team: "We will come out and play with a lot of heart and I can't expect anything else from our team. They have played hard all season."
While Friedgen was meeting with the media, the players and staff received their keys and room assignments.
An hour later the team received its per diem for meals for the first few days.
That was followed by a team meeting conducted by Friedgen and then special positional meetings in boardrooms at the hotel.
Off to Practice
The Terps boarded the buses and departed the Fontainebleau at 3:45 p.m. for its first Orange Bowl practice in Miami.
After a 20 minute ride the Terps arrived at its Miami-area training facility -- Barry University in Miami Shores. Barry's grounds were in immaculate shape with beautiful Bermuda grass.
The Terps were actually training on the soccer fields of Barry, as the Buccaneers do not have a football team. Because of the that, the field only had one goal post -- which had to be imported for the practices.
That one goal post got a work out from the wind as gusts of 20 to 25 miles per hour ripped through the fields making it feel around 40 degrees with the wind chill.
Coach Friedgen put the team through a light practice for about two hours finishing around 6:30 p.m.
The team then returned to the hotel ready for dinner.
The Evening Hours
The players had the night free to themselves and many went out to dinner in South Beach, dining at the many fine restaurants in town.
The coaches and staff were treated to an Orange Bowl Welcome Reception Party given by the hotel and the Orange Bowl Committeee. To show how cold it was, the party was originally scheduled to be held at the Hotel Poolside on the beach behind the hotel. But, it was moved inside to the Flor de Lis room.
Orange Bowl Committee president Susan Potter Norton made a brief welcome and the party was underway -- a salute to the Maryland Terrapins' Orange Bowl team.
The Terp staffers were treated to a great meal with meat and chicken with stuffed baked potatoes along with wonderful desserts including key lime pie and banana cream pie.
The night finished with many people heading to the hotel's hospitality room talking about the Terps' wonderful season and dreams of winning the Orange Bowl.
