Monday, Dec. 29, 2008

Today in Tampa

Today's schedule

11:45 a.m. —- Debartolo team luncheon for both teams at the Tampa Convention Center.

2:30 p.m. —- USC practice at Jefferson High School

3:45 p.m. —- Iowa practice at the University of Tampa

6 p.m. —- Team night at GameWorks at Centro Ybor in Ybor City

What to know about Iowa

If Iowa looks a lot like the Pittsburgh Steelers —- at least in uniform —- on Thursday, it is for good reason.

When Hayden Fry became coach at Iowa in 1978, he wanted to redesign the team's logo and its uniforms. Fry was a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and he sought permission from the NFL club to mimic their uniforms.

It helps that Iowa's black and gold school colors are the same as Pittsburgh's. The uniforms remain almost identical in style to the Steelers. Fry also created a meaner-looking hawk logo for the sides of the helmet.

Fantasy football, USC style

Had the current bowl system existed, USC surely would have played in more than 13 bowl games over the years. Take 1947, for example.

That happened to be one of the great seasons in USC history, yet the Gamecocks stayed home for the holidays. USC went 6-2-1 that season, including 4-1-1 in the powerful Southern Conference.

The Gamecocks lost games that season to Mississippi, which finished at No. 13 in the AP poll, and to Maryland. They tied Duke, which finished at No. 19. Wins came against Clemson and Miami.

There were 13 bowl games that postseason, and it seems like USC should have at least received a Raisin Bowl or Salad Bowl bid. Today, those Gamecocks surely would have found a spot in Champ Sports Bowl, against a 6-3 Minnesota squad.

Observance of the day

Jefferson High School, USC's practice site for the week, is not just any ordinary practice facility. It has to be among the best in the region, if not the country.

In addition to the stadium field, where most of USC's practices are conducted, Jefferson has two practice fields. If need be, USC could have used a third practice field located a quarter of a mile away behind the school's softball field. That field is used primarily by the Jefferson junior varsity squad.

The high school also has a separate locker room facility, complete with weight rooms.

It's the Outback Bowl, mate

Still no Nicole Kidman sightings, even after a thorough search beneath all umbrellas on Clearwater Beach.

That's not her kind of beach, no doubt. She must have been elsewhere on Sunday.

Outback Bowl history

The Outback Bowl actually was formed as the Hall of Fame Bowl and played its first game two days before Christmas in 1986 at old Tampa Stadium.

In a game played in a steady rain, Georgia rallied from a 20-7 to take a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter. Boston College then scored with 32 seconds left for a 27-24 victory on a touchdown pass from Shawn Halloran to Kelvin Martin.

— Ron Morris

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