Unconquered Magazine Dec2009

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Unconquered magazine (USPS 18182) is published quarterly by Seminole Boosters, Inc., 225 University Center, Suite 5100, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306. (850) 644-3484, Fax: (850) 222-5929. POSTMASTER: send change of address to, Unconquered magazine, care of Seminole Boosters, 225 University Center, Suite 5100, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306.

Periodicals Postage Paid at Tallahassee, FL, Volume 26, Issue 4.

All advertising revenues directly support programs of the Seminole Boosters, Inc. For advertising rates, please contact the sales representatives listed below. © 2009, Seminole Boosters, Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Florida State University faculty, staff or administration.

Overview Unconquered magazine celebrates Seminole athletics and the indomitable spirit of its student-athletes who overcome adversity, the passion of its coaches and educators who help students reach beyond their limits, and the devotion of donors who redefine the boundaries of generosity by giving scholarships that change lives and who make donations that build first-class athletic facilities. By sharing their stories of transformational experiences — on the athletic playing field, in the classroom and in life — Unconquered magazine encourages the growth of responsible world citizenship and cross-cultural understanding.

Each issue carries stories on what makes student-athletes great and how they were shaped by their experience at FSU, features on Seminole Nation sports legends and profiles of donors who make contributions.

2009–2010 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

STEVE BROWN

BRIAN SWAIN

SCOTT ROIX

BRUCE HARRELL

BOB CATON

RUSS MORCOM

MORRIS MILLER

LEE HINKLE

RANDY SPETMAN

ANDY MILLER

GENE READY

Philip Griffitts

JOE BECKHAM

Chairman

Past Chairman

Chairman-Elect

Booster Attorney

Secretary

Treasurer

VP for University Relations

Athletic Director

Immediate Past Chair

Seminole Boosters President

Contact Send correspondence to Derril Bleakley, at the address shown above, or by e-mail to dbleakley@fsu.edu. Telephone: (850) 645-7330.

Magazine Staff Publishers: Andy Miller, Jerry Kutz Managing editor: Derril Bleakley Design, layout, production, pre-press: Rowland Publishing, Inc.

KEN WILLIS

At-Large Member

At-Large Member

At-Large Member

Photo editors: Derril Bleakley, Rowland Publishing, Inc.

Chairman, Athletics Committee

Featured photographers: Mike Olivella, Ross Obley Contributing photographers: FSU Photo Lab, Russell Grace, FSU Sports Info Staff writers: Charlie Barnes, Jerry Kutz, Ira Schoffel Contributing writers: Rob Wilson, Don Yaeger, John Lata Copy editors: Jerry Kutz, Ira Schoffel, Rowland Publishing, Inc. Magazine Intern: Chelsea Brint

Seminole Boosters, Inc.

Photo purchasing information: Mike Olivella photos: www.seminoles.com Ross Obley photos: www.seminoles.com Russell Grace photos: www.russellgraceimages.com

Rick Astor

Bill Dawkins

Roger K. Hobbs

Bill Parker, PC

Kathy Atkins, PC

Rob Doll

Ron Hobbs, PC

Sean Pittman

Byron Bailey

Carl Domino, PC

Cassandra Jenkins

Frank Pope, PC

Doug Bailey

Linda Dupree

Bobby Jones

Theo Proctor, PC

Tom Barron, PC

Don Eddings

Bill Kalfas

John Rice

Mark Bates

Frank Fain, PC

Jim Kirk, PC

Ed Schatz

Flecia Braswell

Ron Farrell

Chris Kraft, PC

Christian Scherf

Jim Byrd

Michael Feiler

George Langford, PC

Lomax Smith, PC

Bob Camp, PC

Mike Fields, PC

Lawton Langford, PC

Kathy Stahl

Joe Camps, PC

Todd Haag

Greg Lawrence

Donn Szaro

Bob Carnes

Andy Haggard, PC

Brett Lindquist

Bob Teel

Bill Carraway, PC

Kim Hammond, PC

Rick Losco

Glenda Thornton

Jimmy Carter, PC

Bill Harkins

John Madiedo

Oscar Vicente, Jr.

Ken Cashin, PC

Mike Harrell

Douglas Mannheimer, PC

Cumi Walsingham

Owen Chastain

Ed Hart

Lori Mattice

Gary Walsingham, PC

Raymond Cottrell, PC

Ed Haskell, PC

David Mobley

Derek Whitis

Dave Cowens, PC

Arielle Haynes

DeVoe Moore

Tommy Williams, PC

Clif Curry

Sherm Henderson, PC

Julie Moss

Derril Bleakley Managing Editor, Advertising, Student Boosters Director

Boe Davis

Charlie Hill, PC

John Olson, PC

FSU TRADEMARK LICENSING

FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sherri Dye Director of Licensing

Jim Smith, Chair

William “Andy” Haggard

Harold Knowles, Vice Chair

Robert J. Jakubik

Derrick Brooks

James E. Kinsey, Jr.

Susie Busch-Transou

Richard McFarlain

Emily Fleming Duda

Leslie Pantin, Jr.

David Ford

Jayne Standley

Seminole Boosters, Inc. EXECUTIVE STAFF Andy Miller President and CEO Charlie Barnes Executive Director Senior Vice President Joel Padgett Senior Vice President Gift Planning Director Tom Carlson Senior Vice President Jerry Kutz Vice President of Marketing and Communications Drew Weatherford Director Cindee Lundeen, PhD Director

Rachel Catalano Special Events, Executive Assistant to Andy Miller Sarah Reed Executive Assistant, Coaches Clubs Director

Barbara Mason Financial Assistant

ASSISTANTS TO EXECUTIVE STAFF AND DIRECTORS Mary Pat Desloge Senior Executive Assistant to Andy Miller

Jeff Chamlis Gift Entry

Dominique Gordon Data Entry

Eric Carr Director

Max Zahn Northeast FL Representative

Toni Bush Office Assistant

Marcia Etheridge Executive Assistant to Tom Carlson, Charlie Barnes and Nick Maddox

Billy Sexton Director

Matt Behnke CFO

Jennifer Terrell Director

Mickey Clickner Data Entry

Patti Barber Receptionist, Office Assistant

Sanford Lovingood Controller

DONOR RECORDS

Mary Bailey Executive Assistant to Jerry Kutz, Stewardship

Matthew Zagaeski Assistant Information Technology Director

PROGRAM DIRECTORS Maria Fuller Skybox and Parking Director Farrah Miller Information Technology Director, Webmaster, Internship Coordinator

2009–2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lauren Cloer Data Entry

Kari Terezakis Gift Entry UNCONQUERED MAGAZINE

Garrett O’Connor Assistant Licensing Director

Manny Garcia

PC denotes Past Chairman

“We are very proud of our student athletes who graduate at a rate even higher than the student body.”

T.K. Wetherell

President of The Florida State University

FSU VARSITY CLUB Betsy Hosey Director

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Introducing the all new MVP Club at

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CO N T E N T S

58 Mickey Andrews Honoring a legend

Booster Life 5 Board of Directors 8 Remembering Jim King 20 Peterson Contributions and Malaproprisms 31 Basketball Arena Gets New Look 48 Booster Bash 73 Boosters Events Photos 74 Welcome New Members

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Columnists 18 Don Yaeger Moving Beyond Dynasties 32 Charlie Barnes Shares the Vision 56 Jerry Kutz Makes the Ask 62 Jim Henry Ponders How Great Ponder Will Be Report 11 Community Service Goals 24 Solomon Alabi Measures Up 26 FSU Basketball Sets Lofty Goals 56 Annual Report: Booster Revenue 66 Hall of Fame Class of ‘09 68 Homer Thomas Fulfills Degree Dream 78 Soccer Makes Elite 8 79 FSU Academic All-Stars

Features 32 50

the legacy campaign

Committed donors help campaign surpass goals.

men ’s and women’s basketball

photos by fsu sports info & mike olivella

The impact of a home away from home.

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mickey andrews

Coaches final game after 47 seasons.

student boosters

Students leave a legacy by learning to give; a Student Booster story.

next issue

A Tribute to Bobby Bowden.

We invite you to submit your stories and photographs with Coach Bowden.

Email dbleakley@fsu.edu.

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On the cover: Head Coach Bobby Bowden and his longtime Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews share an embrace at midfield before the start of both coaches’ final game at Doak Campbell Stadium, November 21, 2009.

Photo by Russell Grace (www.RussellGraceImages.com).

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Tribute

T

he sky was slate gray all the way to Jacksonville for Jim King’s funeral and I was glad. I didn’t think I could bear having to saying goodbye to Jim on a bright and sunny day.

Most Floridians knew King as the legislator elected in 1986 who rose through the state’s political hierarchy, eventually becoming president of the Florida Senate. Other than Seminole loyalists, few knew Jim King as the passionate leader of the Jacksonville Seminole Booster Club and volunteer architect of the explosive growth in Seminole Booster Clubs throughout the 1980s.

Old eras end and new ones begin, and I’m at an age now where I can see the creases in time that mark those shifts. In the long era of Bobby Bowden, a distinguished skein of familiar names and faces enriched the Seminoles’ rise to national prominence. While so many of them still represent the foundation blocks of this great athletic program, most are content now to let the torch of leadership pass to a new generation.

And too many of them are gone. Jim King’s name is now writ alongside Carole

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A King Among Us Jim King’s enthusiasm rallied FSU fans By Charlie Barnes

Haggard, Dennis Boyle, Bob Fohl and others on that sad roll of the departed. One era is slowly giving way to the next.

The first era of Seminole football began long ago with Ken MacLean’s catch of Don Grant’s pass on a chilly October night in

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1947. That first Seminole football game launched decades of excitement and promise and joy and dreams. The departure of Coach Bill Peterson after the 1970 season was where the first of those creases in time appeared. An era ended.

Photos by FSU Photo Lab and SEMINOLE BOOSTERS

(Opposite) Area Chairmen from the early 1980s. (Above) Seminole Boosters Executive Committee: Andy Miller, Frank Fain, Jim King, Sanford Lovingood, Andy Haggard, Bill Hagen, Charlie Barnes, Athletics Director Hootie Ingram, Jim Pitts and Ken Cashin; Jim King circa 1991.

For a few years in the early 1970s, the football program drifted. Not that there weren’t great players and signal achievements.

Quarterback Gary Huff was a Heisman Trophy candidate in 1971, Barry Smith was an NFL first rounder after our Seminoles played in the first Fiesta Bowl in 1972.

But the years from 1971 through 1975 represented a pause in time, a sort of empty zone between eras. The Seminole Boosters organization was disbanded and became something else, something called the National Seminole Club. And so the past glories of Seminole football faded in the unhappiness of three miserable years.

The winless 1973 season did dreadful collateral damage to other FSU varsity sports.

Without income from a winning football program, those sports lost scholarships and their performance levels declined.

Jacksonville businessman Jim King stepped forward after Bobby Bowden took over in 1976. King’s infectious enthusiasm rallied Seminole fans eager to ring in the new era. He was all energy and boisterous good humor. When he entered a room, everyone turned toward Jim and smiled.

After the famous 1980 win over Nebraska in Lincoln, our people couldn’t stop talking about the classy Cornhusker fans who stood and applauded our team after the game.

King put together something he called Project Image to capture some of that Nebraska sportsmanship. Volunteers, mostly from the Jacksonville Seminole Boosters Club, handed out complimentary bags of boiled peanuts to opposing fans and welcomed them to Doak Campbell Stadium.

King and other Jacksonville Seminoles created a Booster Club of astonishing scale and impact. Young alumni flooded in to the Tuesday night meetings to socialize. Mature alumni joined to share the joy of winning and to reclaim the old pride. A typical weekly meeting downtown during football season might draw 800 to 1,000 Seminole fans!

King drove a gigantic automobile that cruised like a dreadnaught festooned with battle flags on game day. I spent a lot of time with him in those days and not a small amount of it in that car. He had everything; he knew everyone.

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Sometime after midnight, Jim and I would typically settle into the comfort of his living room. His wife Linda would make us bacon and eggs and we’d talk Seminole football until morning light began to color the St Johns River.

As I walked up the steps to St. John’s Cathedral, the first man I saw, his eyes rimmed red behind dark glasses, was the only one who ever bested King in an election. Around 1980, Jim had run for president of the Jacksonville Seminole Boosters Club and lost. He confided later, “I learned something. I learned that if I can be outworked, I can be beat.” He won the next year and never again lost an election of any kind.

Mark Twain drew a map of Jim King’s life in one sentence: “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”

In Jacksonville on a gray day, more people than it seemed the great church could hold bowed their heads. And the undertaker was not the only one of us who wept. SB

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Prepares for Oxford

Photos by Ross Obley and courtsey Garrett Johnson

NCAA Academic Report

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Community Outreach

Where

there’s a

Gnome...

Student-athletes en route to completing 6,000 hours of community service this year By john lata, ph.d.

Residents of Tallahassee

Many teams have smaller groups that do quite a bit of service, but the challenge was to involve everyone. Luke Loucks, a sophomore on the men’s basketball team and SAAC member agreed, saying, “We’ve only done a few events as team. We do a lot of smaller groups, but the Semi-Gnome gave us a reason to all get together.”

Yashiva Edwards, assistant director of Student Services said the idea came to fruition in the spring of 2009 and so far five teams have included the Semi-Gnome in their travels. “The challenge is for every team to get the Semi-Gnome out with their entire team and take some pictures with him,” she said. “So far the Golden Girls, Softball, Women’s Golf, Volleyball and Men’s Basketball teams have been involved.”

“I think it’s helping to promote that entire

may think they’ve been caught in the latest Travelocity commercial, but it’s really the newest trend in the Florida State University Athletic Department’s student-athlete community service efforts! With the invention of the Semi-Gnome community service mascot, FSU team leaders are finding new and innovative ways to get all their teammates involved in helping the community.

Melanie Cabassol, a senior diver from Texas and Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) president, developed the idea of using the 12-inch tall ceramic gnome as a tool to get entire teams involved in community service. As Melanie put it, “It gives individual SAAC members and team reps a good opportunity to gather their teams and give back.”

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Community Outreach

teams go out and do community service together,” said Abbie King, graduate assistant in the Student Services office. “The Gnome rotates from team to team. It kind of puts them on the clock to get something accomplished while it’s in their possession.”

The plan is for the Semi-Gnome to rotate to a new team about every two weeks, depending on seasonal availability. “The idea was to make it a little more interesting,

“The Gnome rotates from team to team.

It kind of puts them on the clock to get something accomplished while Dick Howser Celebrity Waiter Dinner fundraising event featuring Christian Ponder.

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make it a play off the Travelocity commercials, the gnome who goes to all these different places,” said Edwards. “ It was a way to emphasize all the different things our student-athletes are doing and all the different places they are visiting.”

The most recent trips involved the men’s basketball and softball teams. Men’s basketball visited the Down Syndrome Buddy’s Walk, which attracted about 1,000 people. “A few of the kids asked to see the Semi-Gnome so they could take pictures with it,” said an obviously moved Loucks.

“One of the kids came up on stage and talked about what the team meant to him and how the community should support our team. It was definitely a feel good event.”

Ashley Stager, a junior softball studentathlete and SAAC member, and her teammates took the Semi-Gnome gardening at the Hope Center. “This was an event where we could all attend and work together, a team-bonding opportunity. We would hide the Semi-Gnome from each other and we turned it into a scavenger hunt. Our team was more motivated with the Semi-

Photos by Seminole Athletics

— ABBIE KING

Community Outreach

<< Clockwise from top left: Women’s Softball, Women’s Golf and Women’s Volleyball.

Seminole Booster Ad_Bill_Your Banker.qxd:Layout 1

Gnome in attendance. The people we were working with wanted to take pictures with it too. It was fun.”

Cabassol hopes this legacy continues.

“It’s definitely something I hope carries on as a new SAAC tradition over the years,” she said. “Our goal is to try and see how many different places we can take the Semi-Gnome and take his picture. I hope this continues into the future. It’s a way to have fun. It’s catchy.”

There’s even a chance it might show up elsewhere. “Other schools within the ACC have expressed interest in starting their own Gnome traditions to help inspire their student-athletes to get out and give back,” said Cabassol.

The Semi-Gnome has given the student-athletes at Florida State just one more way to appreciate the already enjoyable experience of going out into the community and spending some valuable time with the citizens of Tallahassee. SB

10/7/09

1:28 PM

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Booster Life

Booster Life 14

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Booster Life

Booster Life 16

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83,000 STRONG

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HISTORY’S PERSPECTIVE BY DON YAEGER

I

n October, legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden turned 99 years old.

Though it has been 35 years since he last worked the sidelines, the dominance of Wooden’s UCLA teams is considered the greatest dynasty in men’s basketball.

In the last 12 years he coached the Bruins, Wooden’s teams won 10 national championships and pieced together an 88-game winning streak. Neither record will likely ever fall.

In celebration of Wooden’s 99th birthday, he published his seventh book — this one titled “A Game Plan For Life” — on the value of mentoring. I was honored to be his co-author. The publisher also established a Web site, allowing visitors from around the world to send the coach a brief electronic message. Among those who did: Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, who thanked Wooden for setting high standards both on and off the court.

Nineteen years his junior, Bowden understands the challenges Wooden faced, because Bowden has set a standard of excellence that probably will never be duplicated at the college football level.

At the height of Bowden’s dominance, from 1991 to 2000, the Seminoles won two national championships (1993 and 1999), played for three others (1996, 1998 and 2000) and never finished outside the Associated Press top-four. Quarterbacks Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke won the program’s only Heisman trophies.

As everyone who has ever enjoyed cheering for a sports dynasty knows, nothing lasts forever. And, often, when the run comes to its close, the fall doesn’t have to be far to send fans and the media into a frenzy.

When asked about the challenge of ever-mounting expectations, Coach Wooden once told me: “One of the poorest qualities of most in sports is patience. Patience is what it takes to build great things and patience is what it takes to re-build them.

Most all of the great teams in sports come back. But it never seems to happen quick enough for the critics.”

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Not even mighty Oklahoma, which many believe boasts college football’s top dynasty due to its storied history, was immune from a drop-off.

From 1953 to 1958, legendary coach Bud Wilkinson’s Sooners won an NCAA-record 47 straight games, two national titles and defeated teams by an average of 28.6 points per game. The run was punctuated by three straight undefeated seasons.

Wilkinson’s best teams came during the first 11 years of his tenure, which spanned 1943 to 1963 and eventually landed him in the College Football Hall of Fame.

In his first 11 seasons, Wilkinson recorded winning streaks of 31 and 47 games

Bowden understands the challenges Wooden faced, because Bowden has set a standard of excellence that probably will never be duplicated at the college football level.

and went 114–10–3, a winning percentage of 90.9. Wilkinson left Oklahoma after the 1963 season with a record of 145–29–4, 14 conference titles and 123 straight games without being shut out.

Wilkinson’s assistant coach, Gomer Jones, took over as head coach in 1964 in a move engineered by Wilkinson. But the wheels on the Sooner Schooner quickly began to wobble.

Jones’ first year was a sharp contrast from Wilkinson’s early years as the Sooners went 6-4-1. Oklahoma started the season 1-3 with consecutive losses to Southern California, Texas and Kansas.

However, the most difficult loss came in the Gator Bowl to FSU. Prior to the game, it was discovered that four of the team’s best players had signed professional football contracts before 81>>

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Photo by Mike olivella

Opinion

A

Standard of Excellence Columnist Don Yaeger remembers why it takes time to build — and rebuild — any dynasty in college football.

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Inside View

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“You Can’t Become a Football Overnight: a Book of Petersonisms”

by Jim Crosby

Photos by FSU Photo Lab and FSU SPORTS INFO

T

he picture is clearly etched in my mind. Sitting in the student section at Doak Campbell Stadium, facing the sun, I watch the high, spiraling pass travel down the far sideline. The football settles in the sure hands of receiver Fred Biletnikoff, who has raced behind the startled Kentucky secondary. Steve Tensi’s perfect pass starts the Seminoles on the road to a shocking 48-to-6 ambush of the nation’s fifth ranked team. It was Bill Peterson football at its finest!

A unique and innovative coach, Peterson was even more inventive as a speaker. He created his own language, called “Petersonese.” FSU’s coach from 1960 through 1970, Peterson was a master of malapropism who once told his team to “stand on their helmets with the sidelines under their arms.”

Most would agree that Peterson put Seminole football permanently on the

Opposite (clockwise from top): Former players Bill Cappelman, Gary Huff, Ron Sellers, Coach Peterson 1965 and former players TK Wetherell and Kim Hammond.

This page: Coach Peterson and his staff in 1963.

Notice Receivers Coach Bobby Bowden in the front row, left, and Coach Peterson with his 1964 Captains, including Hall of Fame Receiver Fred Biletnikof, left.

national map with his high-scoring, passhappy offense and reckless, risk-taking defense. His influence is indelibly stamped on Seminole football, as well as the university and Florida’s Capital City.

Over a decade ago I began writing down “Petersonisms,” collected from various sources throughout the years and carried with me in boxes through five different moves. A variety of sources provided these verbal gems. Some came from working with Pete and Bob Shackleton, then Gene Deckerhoff on Seminole game broadcasts and his guest appearances on my radio talk show. Many were from personal interviews with players like T.K Wetherell, Ron Sellers, Kim Hammond, Bill Cappleman and Gary Huff.

The Tallahassee Democrat columns of the late Bill McGrotha and his out-of-print book “Seminoles: The First 40 Years” were an invaluable source. Some enjoyable conversations with his wife Marge and namesake Bill Peterson Jr. revealed others.

The year 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of Coach Pete’s first year as Seminole football coach. To honor that memorable event I’ve written a book called: “You Can’t Become a Football Overnight” which will

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be published by Seminole Boosters, Inc. It is full of photos, stories and colorful sayings reminiscent of those exciting years.

Readers will discover a complex and often amusing man who once organized a practice by telling the players “to pair up in threes and line up in a circle.” The book captures his most famous mis-statements, many that left the puzzled listener wondering if he or she had really heard what they heard. If so, then what the heck did it mean?

Bill Peterson’s active mind usually ran ahead of his words. It was hard to tell if he was “putting you on” or had made a hilarious word-substitution. Once he told his team: “I’m the football around here and don’t you remember it.” But after you read this book you will remember who was the real football at Florida State in the 1960s.

How to buy the book: Contact Seminole Boosters at seminoleboosters@fsu.edu or at (850) 644-3484. SB

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This Christmas, Save big now and score big in 2010 when you give the gift of FSU Football.

Whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re playing Santa to your favorite Seminole or treating yourself, now is the time to buy or renew your 2010 season tickets.

Ticket Payment Plan To make your 2010 season tickets even more affordable, the FSU Ticket Office is already taking orders. With an initial deposit of 10% of the total cost, you can spread out the remaining balance over up to 8 monthly installments ahead of the July 1 deadline (a $2 charge will be billed directly to your credit card). For example, a current season ticket holder renewing 4 season tickets would make a down payment of $130 and have 8 monthly payments of approximately $146.

Seminole Ticket Marketplace Sell your unused tickets, hassle-free, and recover your cost. Only season-ticket holders have access to sell in the online ticket marketplace, which will open earlier than ever next year, allowing Seminole fans to exchange tickets well ahead of the season opener.

Savings On Single Game Tickets Get a discount of 5% off of single-game prices for any additional tickets you order when buying season tickets. You can also order away-game tickets with your renewal this year, spreading the costs of the additional tickets over the same months as your season tickets.

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(888) FSU-NOLE (850) 644-1830

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deck the halls in garnet & gold.

It’s Almost Like Getting One Game Free!

As a season-ticket holder, you save 12% off the price of a single-game ticket. If you buy 2 season tickets, you save $88 off the single-game price, almost getting one game free!

2010 Season Tickets

$321

Includes one ticket to each of FSU’s 7 home games:

FLORIDA NORTH CAROLINA BYU WAKE FOREST CLEMSON SAMFORD BOSTON COLLEGE

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Player Access

Tale of

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the Tape

on Soloman Alabi

At 7'1" tall and with a 7'4" wingspan, sophomore center Soloman Alabi is literally the big man on campus this fall. Just how big is he?

CONSIDER THAT AT 7'1" — OR 85 INCHES TALL:

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of Tiger Woods’ 45inch drivers laid end to end would only be 5 inches longer than Alabi is tall.

The top of Alabi’s head is just 11 inches shy of the top of the centerfield wall in Yankee Stadium. And, when he raises his arms, he could snatch back a home run 13 inches over the wall — without jumping.

If Alabi stood in the soccer goal, his head would be less than a foot from the

cross bar.

A college fastpitch softball is 3.8 inches in diameter so it takes over 23 of them stacked on top of each other to reach his height.

Alabi is taller than two 42-inch baseball bats balancing on top of each other.

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Stacked end to end, even this many US dollar bills would not reach the top of his head.

He is literally three yards and a cloud of dust if you lay him down with arms extended, which measures 9-feet and 1-inch.

If he laid on the basketball floor with his feet at the backboard, his finger tips are just 5' 9" inches from the foul line.

Flat-footed and with his arms extended, his fingertips are just 11 inches from the basketball rim.

As impressive as his height is, his wingspan might be even more unique:

8

Number of FSU track athletes who have ever high-jumped over his head (not literally, of course!)

The distance from his fingertip to fingertip is six inches longer than FSU tight end Caz Piurowski is tall.

With both feet planted in the lane for no more than three seconds, Alabi would only allow 2’4” on each side of the lane.

If he put his chest on the hood of a Nascar race car he could reach into the wheel wells on both sides.

All three of 2009 Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam’s fishing poles (Quantum KVD Series) could fit within his wingspan.

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Hoops

Seminoles Gunning for More After returning to the NCAA Tournament, Leonard Hamilton has FSU primed for another big season.

By Ira Schoffel

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I

TV

t would be nearly impossible to pick one single highlight as the most memorable moment of the 2008-09 Florida State men’s basketball season.

Would it be the Seminoles’ triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament? Or stunning the experts by finishing the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule in fourth place with a 10-6 record? Or would it be knocking off eventual national champion North Carolina to advance to the championship game of the ACC Tournament for the first time in school history?

A tough call, to be sure. But it’s not one head coach Leonard Hamilton and the returning members of his squad will spend much time deliberating. As much as they enjoyed the successes of last season, they are far more interested in using them as a springboard to greater heights in 2009-10.

And they began working toward that goal as soon as the final horn sounded last March.

“We encouraged them at the end of last season to work on the areas of their game that they need to improve on in order to be better, more complete players,” said Hamilton, who was named National Coach of the Year by Basketball Times and ACC Coach of the Year by conference media. “Offensively. Defensively. Improving your individual skills and your understanding and knowledge of the game. We want them to become better students of the game.”

The challenge for Florida State will be to not only improve upon last season, but to do it without superstar point guard Toney Douglas. On his way to becoming a first-round selection in the NBA Draft, Douglas earned first-team All-ACC honors and was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. He led the ACC in scoring with 21.5 points per game.

Junior Derwin Kitchen is expected to claim Douglas’ spot as FSU’s starting point guard, but the Seminoles certainly are not asking Kitchen to “replace” Douglas.

“I think the gap is going to be filled by a team,” Hamilton said. “I think we have guys that are going to step up and guys that will follow.”

FSU got a head start on that task by playing several exhibition games during an 11-day trip to Spain in August.

The tour, paid for by Nike, gave the Seminoles a chance to tinker with new lineups and to experience their first taste of competition in the post-Douglas era.

It was a rousing success. Make that a running success.

With such an athletic lineup returning, Hamilton hoped the 2009-10 Seminoles would be more of a transition team. After FSU scored more than 100 points in each of its four exhibition games, the head coach said his players exceeded expectations.

“We want to improve our offensive production,” Hamilton said. “We want to play a little more of an up-tempo game and try to take advantage of our skills a little more. I didn’t realize [Kitchen] is capable of pushing the ball as fast as he could.”

Kitchen will be joined in the backcourt by sophomores Luke Loucks and Deividas Dulkys, redshirt freshman Pierre Jordan, and a pair of highly touted newcomers — Michael Snaer, a McDonald’s All-American, and Terrance Shannon.

The strength of the Seminoles’ lineup, however, will be a towering frontcourt, led by emerging star Solomon Alabi. The 7-foot-1 Alabi, who was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive Team as a freshman, will be joined by 6-11 Xavier Gibson, 6-9 Chris Singleton, 6-8 Ryan Reid and 6-7 Jordan DeMercy.

“I don’t know how you stop all those big men,” Kitchen said of the task facing FSU opponents.

“I am glad I don’t have to figure that out.” SB

One of the rewards of Florida State’s 25-10 season is a slew of TV opportunities in 2009–10.

For the first time in 11 years, every game on the Seminoles’ ACC schedule will be televised — and 11 of those 16 contests will air nationally. // Of a possible 30 games on FSU’s regular-season schedule, at least 26 will be televised, and that number could increase as the season unfolds.

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Hoops

A Different Drum Women’s team finds voice’ in South Africa By Tim Linafelt

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T

he theme for this year’s Florida State women’s basketball team didn’t originate on the practice court or in the locker room.

It wasn’t even developed on this side of the planet.

Instead, in the South African township of Gugulethu, while on a Nike-sponsored preseason tour, the Seminoles discovered and adopted the words that would become their banner for the 2009–10 campaign. “[Gugulethu], meaning our home, our pride, and our voice, and from that we chose to adopt ‘Our Voice’ as our theme this year,” Seminoles Coach Sue Semrau said. “The hearts of those people we met in South Africa inspired us. They are determined to develop and grow as a people. And I think that’s what our players feel coming back, that kind of pride and the voice that we want to have as a Seminole basketball team.”

That voice, Semrau said, is what her team will collectively communicate both on and off the court this season.

How the voice develops will go a long way in determining how successful the Seminoles will be as they attempt to defend their regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference championship, replace two key players lost to graduation and navigate what figures to be one of the nation’s most challenging schedules.

“We, as a team, have to decide, how are we going to be heard and how are we going to communicate that?” Semrau said. “Then they can hold each other to that all across the board. It’s really in its infant stages, so I want them to develop what it is.”

One thing is already clear: These Seminoles have the potential to be very good.

Florida State’s roster features a balance of experienced veterans and talented newcomers, who should help fill the holes left by the departure of senior guards Tanae DavisCain and Mara Freshour.

Leading the Seminoles will be a trio of seniors who combined to average 24.8 points per game a year ago. Center Jacinta Monroe and guards Alysha Harvin and Angel Gray provide the most experience for FSU, and each, Sem-

rau said, has her own unique brand of leadership. “[Monroe] is more of a soft-spoken leader on the court. Angel is fire and [Harvin] is passion,” Semrau said. “You put those

“The hearts of those people we met in South Africa inspired us. They are determined to develop and grow as a people ... that’s what our players feel coming back, that kind of pride and the voice we want to have.”

SUE SEMRAU

three together and they can be very dangerous. Their challenge is going to be to bring everyone with them.”

Leadership will be crucial as the Seminoles embark on a campaign that could feature as many as 14 opponents that made the NCAA Tournament in 2009.

“It really is our mission to be a top-10 program, and that is a responsibility that you have, to go out and play the best,” Semrau said of FSU’s schedule. “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best.”

The Seminoles will do just that when defending national champion Connecticut visits Tallahassee on Dec. 28. The Huskies, who finished last season undefeated, will give FSU an early test in what could be one of the marquee games of the women’s basketball season.

Things won’t get any easier once conference play begins, as the Seminoles must travel to play Maryland, North Carolina and Duke, each of which finished in the top 15 a year ago. “I think it’s wide open,” Semrau said of this year’s ACC race. “Everybody lost key players, and so it will be interesting.” SB

For All Your Travel Needs Personal. Business. FSU.

Whether you’re heading to the next game, want to accomodate out-of-town fans or are going away for business, GameTime Travel, the official travel partner of Seminole Boosters, can offer you the best rates and options on travel.

GameTime Travel donates a portion of every booking to Seminole Boosters, Inc., who provide funding for scholarships to Florida State’s student-athletes.

For great rates on travel and vacation packages, please visit GameTimeTravel.com/FSU

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Hoops

Get In the

zone

2009–2010

Men’s Basketball Schedule Florida State’s basketball programs are both predicted to be among the nation’s Top 25, and several media sources already have both the men’s and women’s teams as likely high NCAA seeds.

Thanks to a new seating plan, the basketball teams will enjoy a more intense home court atmosphere and give Seminole Booster members a better chance to buy prime lower level seats.

The new configuration consolidates student seating along the baselines and creates four new rows of seats closer to the floor for season ticket holders. This adjustment provides better opportunities for Seminole Booster members to purchase prime seats and brings more students closer to the floor where they can feed energy into the game.

The color-coded seating chart should help you better understand the changes and the opportunities for you to purchase seats close to the action.

Basketball tickets are assigned on a priority point basis with your contribution to Seminole Boosters included. When calculating basketball priority, continuous years of purchasing basketball tickets (not football) is counted in the priority point total.

The new configuration opens up about 300 new seats where the ‘Nole Zone has been over the last few years. Existing season ticket holders (with the highest priority points) may choose to vacate lower level seats between the baskets to move into the new seats. This could allow for good seating opportunities to become available for the first time in years.

Date

Opponent / Event

11/03/09 11/08/09 11/16/09 11/18/09 11/21/09 11/24/09 11/26/09 11/27/09 11/28/09 11/29/09 12/02/09 12/06/09 12/15/09 12/17/09 12/20/09 12/22/09 12/31/09 01/04/10

01/10/10 01/12/10 01/16/10 01/24/10 01/27/10 01/30/10 02/04/10 02/06/10 02/10/10 02/14/10 02/17/10 02/24/10 02/28/10 03/03/10 03/06/10

Exhibition: TBA Exhibition: TBA vs. Jacksonville, Fla. vs. Stetson at Mercer at Florida Old Spice Classic Old Spice Classic Old Spice Classic Old Spice Classic at Ohio State vs. FIU vs. Georgia State vs. Auburn at Georgia Tech vs. UT–Martin vs. Alabama A&M vs. Texas A&M, Corpus Christi at Maryland vs. NCSU vs. Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech at Duke at Boston College vs. Maryland vs. Miami at Clemson vs. Boston College at Virginia at North Carolina vs. Clemson vs. Wake Forest at Miami

Many of the starters from the first FSU team to reach the ACC Championship game and earn an NCAA Tournament bid are returning this season. The future is very bright for Seminole Basketball, and

For the 2009–2010 women’s basketball schedule, visit

there may never be a better time to purchase season tickets in premium locations.

To order these seats or to learn more, visit Seminoles.com.

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Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tickets Donald L. Tucker Center, 505 W. Pensacola Street

West

F3

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E3

Y3

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Y1

E4 D4 F3

X3 W3

X1

G 2

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V1

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U 2

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K1 L1

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South

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C4 D2

B4

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C1

B1

X4

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Y3 X3 W3

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G 2

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W 2

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North

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West

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East

East

General Admission

Priority One, Season Ticket Only – $280 Priority Two, Lower Level Season Ticket Only – $280

Adult Season Ticket – $30 Youth/Senior Season Ticket – $15

Priority Two, Upper Level Season Ticket – $256 Single Game – $18

Adult Single Game – $5 Youth/Senior Single Game – $3 Students Only

Season Ticket – $256, Single Game – $18 Single Game – $9 Students Only Suites/Club Level Lower bowl tickets are sold as season tickets only.

Hurry and get yours today!

MEN’S

WOMEN’S (888) FSU-NOLE

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Photos by seminole boosters and fsu sports info

BOOSTER SUPPORT A vision received “backing” and FSU reached remarkable heights.

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Legacy Campaign Review

STEADILY BUILDING

THE LEGACY Let us pretend for a moment that we are taking a walk through a nice neighborhood. By Charlie Barnes

L

ate fall in Tallahassee is pleasant, cool. And the wisps of wood smoke on a chilly evening bid us close our eyes, smile and open the door to memories.

Beautiful houses line our street and one of them belongs to us. In this analogy, our home is our University. The houses vary in architecture and size. Some are larger and grander than others, but all the homes are substantial. All are built on solid foundations, and each is occupied by the family that built that particular homestead.

This is an exclusive neighborhood. It costs a lot to live on our street. Maintenance is expensive. Once in awhile something breaks and we have to bring in professionals to fix it.

Maybe the basement floods or the roof leaks. It happens, even to the best of houses.

But we persevere. We know that our house is well built and will last, and we remember how hard we worked to get here. We remember how big the dreams were that led us to this place.

It was twenty years ago, roundabout, that Florida Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dreams of big things began in earnest.

Dreams were the currency of faith among our Seminole loyalists.

Someone found a quote, framed it and hung it on the wall. Chicago architect Daniel Burnhamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s words were placed beneath a photograph

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Charlie Barnes, Executive Director, Seminole Boosters, Inc.

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The Boyle Family The Boyle Family was honored for their leadership and generosity at a Torch Lighting Ceremony. Dennis Boyle was a visionary Chairman of Seminole Boosters, Inc. and instrumental in the athletic program’s meteoric growth. Robin Boyle is pictured with her son Ryan and daughter Elizabeth who endowed an athletic scholarship. Robin and her late husband are also Micco donors.

of a small architectural model illustrating how Doak Campbell Stadium might appear in the dreamscape of a true believer: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die.”

The majestic University Center that now surrounds Doak Campbell Stadium was envisioned as the centerpiece of an entire park of new Seminole athletic facilities. There were those who declared that using state money to build an educational facility surrounding a football stadium was outrageous. But we had two weapons to overcome all opposition: We had the vision of Andy Miller and the muscle of T.K. Wetherell.

Bobby Bowden took over Seminole football in 1976. Andy Miller had already become CEO of Seminole Boosters in 1975. By the late 1980s we were winning on the field, and T.K. Wetherell was one of the most powerful politicians in Florida. Opportunities began to reveal themselves.

Our perception of ourselves began to change. Instead of just aspiring to compete, we wanted to excel. We believed that we could become one of America’s great collegiate programs. We felt that we could do for Florida State what Notre Dame’s athletic program had done for them. We could become a Michigan, a Southern California, Penn State or Nebraska.

We had always seen ourselves as a scrappy little athletic program, taking on the giants and doing well. We imagined all those great programs of legend. Now we imagined being one of them.

Seminole athletic facilities overall were poor, not just football but all sports.

Our football locker room, training room, strength facility — all were substandard and hurt recruiting. Our basketball arena was not “collegiate.” Our golf course was marginal and the clubhouse was dreadful.

The varsity swimming pool leaked.

Women’s soccer and softball facilities were amateurish. Tennis was catch-as-catch-can on the campus recreational courts.

The varsity track building was adequate for the moment and Dick Howser Stadium was thought to be state-of-the-art … until 46>>

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Photos by fsu photo lab

Legacy Campaign Review

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Legacy Campaign Review

The

Stahl Legacy B

ob Stahl graduated from Florida State University with a degree in business in 1973 and is now a member of the Risk Management Insurance School Board at FSU. His wife, Kathy, graduated from FSU in 1977 with a degree in interior design and a minor in marketing.

She’s currently a member of the board of directors of the Seminole Boosters.

Bob and Kathy have two children, Brittany who graduated from FSU in 2008 with a degree in communications, and Robby,

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who is a current student. Brittany was a member of Kappa Delta sorority and served as director of Homecoming. She’s currently pursuing her master’s degree in journalism at New York University. Robby is pursuing a degree in human sciences and is a member of the FSU baseball team. He is also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Traveling to Tallahassee for football games has been a part of their family routine since the beginning. Brittany and Robby were raised as Seminoles.

SEM I NO LE-BO OST ERS .CO M

“We’re passionate about Florida State University because we have a deep history with it and a lot of great memories here,” Bob said. “It’s a great university and produces strong alumni.”

The Stahls support FSU athletics because they have always enjoyed sports, especially at FSU, and know many student athletes.

“They’re good kids,” Bob and Kathy said.

“We want to support them, to help them succeed in the future. With a student athlete in our family, we know how difficult

Photos COURTESY OF STAHL FAMILY

Generations of Seminole fans and supporters

Bob and Kathy Stahl with their daughter Brittany and son Robby, who is a current FSU baseball player.

and challenging it can be to balance academics and a varsity sport, and we want to support these student athletes so they are successful in all their endeavors.

“We support all sports at FSU,” they added. “We believe that not one team alone makes the Florida State athletic program what it is.”

The Stahl family made a leadership gift towards the Legacy Campaign in an effort to fully endow athletic scholarships at Florida State. SB

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Former Players & Donors

DeVoe and Shirley Moore

Don Veller

Warner and Mary Kay Peacock

Greg Jones

Warrick Dunn, Burt Reynolds and Peter Boulware

Legacy Campaign Donors Mr. E.C. Allen Mrs. Matilda A Allen Anchors - Cadenhead Jorge Azor Ben & Susan Bailey, III Byron & Brenda Bailey Matt & Kelly Behnke Anonymous James Bloomfield Rick Bonneman

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BOWDEN LEGACY ENDOWMENT Dennis & Robin Boyle Stephen and Yvonne Brown Robert V. Bruce John W. Bussey, III William F. Butler James S. Byrd Cafe Cabernet M. Patrice Callahan, M.D. Scott Carswell

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Champion Chevrolet Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. Walter Church Sr. Mike Conway Alicia A. Crew James H. Dahl Dr. and Mrs. Gene Davidson Del Archibald Scholarship Fund Ed DePuy Craig Dewhurst

Legacy Campaign Review

Harry and Deborah Sargent with family

Jeff Sluman with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus at the Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cup

Al and Judy Dunlap

Tony Diez, Jr. Philip & Dawn Doganiero John & Tammy Dunaway Al & Judy Dunlap J. Craig Dunlap Linda Dupree Embarq-FL Public Affairs Marty & Kaffie Evaldi Rod & Kathy Evans Chuck Everidge

John Ford Griffin

William and Gail Freeman FSU Credit Union Hossein Ghazvini Ginn Clubs & Resorts Katina and Trevis Glasco Ron & Bonnie Glazer Thomas Goldsworthy Duane A. Gordon Billy Don Grant John Ford Griffin

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Scott Roix

Philip & Jerrilyn Griffitts Todd Haag Bill Harkins Bruce E. Harrell Barbara Sue Harris Charles & Joan Haworth Mr. Jim Helinger James A. Helinger, Jr. Danny Hendrix Jim Hewitt

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Facilities

Doak Campbell Stadium, 2008

Lucy McDaniel Court at Tully Gymnasium

Doak Campbell Stadium, 1978

McIntosh Building at Mike Long Track

Legacy Campaign Donors Roger & Denise Hobbs Brian Hobbs Reagan Hobbs John Wayne Hogan Alan Hooper Pinki Jackel Shirley G. Jackson W. R. Jacobsen Dean & Andrea Jerger Dr. Herb & Mary Jervis

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Greg Jones Mr. Lee Jones F. D. Jordan, Jr. Ronald E. Jutila Michael J. Kowalski Jim & Grace Lambert Laurence F. Leavy, P.A. Leonard Medical Marketing Inc Brett C. Lindquist Catherine A. Longstreth

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Rodger K. Lowery Marguerite Neel Williams Charitable Trust James W. Marshall The Martin Family Lucy A. McDaniel David McGehee McIntosh Foundation Media Solutions Rob & Jane Melby Miami Seminole Club

Legacy Campaign Review

Moore Athletic Center

Basketball Training Center, 2008

Morcom Aquatics Center

Jim Miller Mr. Robert P. Miller DeVoe & Shirley Moore Moore Family Trust Charles & Diane Morris Julie Kim Moss Joseph Muldoon C. Patrick Murrah, M.D. Charles & Amy Newell Dennis & Kathy Newman

Steve & Krista Nicklaus Nike Brian M. O’Connell Timothy O’Shaughnessy Jim & Linda Owens Palm Beach Stereovision Panama City Area Seminole Club Thomas F. Panza Warner Peacock Ronald Pepper

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Dick Howser Baseball Stadium

Lisa Peterson Scott Phillips Steven W Poirier Scott & Tina Price Thomas C. Pruitt, Jr. James Pumphrey John H. Quinn David & Regan Rancourt Brad W. Ranson Gene & Barbara Ready

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Legacy Campaign Review

B

orn in Tallahassee, Lance Barton jokes that he was “born in FSU diapers.” The Florida State alumnus and former outside linebacker for the Seminoles has been an active member of the Seminole Boosters for nearly 10 years.

“In the late ’70s when I was between 5 and 10, back in those days at Doak Campbell, they used to let us run out on the field at the end of the game,” he remembers. “We’d run around and visit with the players. I’d sit there on the fence and right when the clock hit double zero we’d jump the fence and run out there.”

Lance is ready for the 2009 season to kick off — and he’s hoping for redemption.

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blu: There are a lot of things you could donate to, why have you chosen this?

BARTON: Given my attachment at birth and literally growing up with FSU, it was natural. I think being the age that I am and coming up with the glory years of FSU and being part of that evolution even endears you more to the program and the university because you’re a part of that whole renaissance period. blu: You played under Bobby Bowden — any good stories?

BARTON: I’ve got a great story about Bobby. I actually sent him a letter when I was 10 in 1979. I wrote saying how I was a huge

SEM I NO LE-BO OST ERS .CO M

fan and that I was going to play there one day. He actually sent me a hand-written letter back and an autographed photograph. That’s the kind of guy he is. I’ve got it somewhere. I think my mom and dad probably have it. blu: What team do you hate the most and why?

BARTON: I probably hate Miami the most for two primary reasons.

Number one, they single-handedly stood between us and four or five national titles. Bobby Bowden would have had, if not the most, he’d be top three as far as the most national titles of all time. That’s more our kickers’ fault than it is Miami’s fault,

PHOTO COURTESY GABRIEL BURGOS COURTESY BLU TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE

Rabid Fans with Generous Souls

Lance had his chopper custom painted garnet and gold. He and his wife, Ashley, got married over the summer. She was convinced he would propose on the 50-yard line of FSU’s Doak Campbell Stadium during halftime. “I thought about it,” Lance admits. “I was afraid she’d be so mortified she’d dig a hole in the field and ruin the team’s footing. Had to get my priorities straight on that one,” he jokes.

but you know, nevertheless. I respect Florida. Obviously, I would prefer we beat the Gators every year by a lot. blu: Could you ever live in Gainesville or Miami?

BARTON: No and no. blu: If someone is visiting Tallahassee, what’s one thing they have to do?

BARTON: Well, you gotta walk around the whole athletic facility. There’s the legacy walk now that kind of meanders throughout the entire facility.

If you like oysters you’ve gotta eat at Shell Oyster Bar. If you like good wine, you gotta go to Café Cabarnet. If you want to go to a great college bar, you gotta go to Potbelly’s.

blu: Favorite player in FSU football history?

BARTON: You gotta go with Charlie Ward. I knew him, and what a phenomenal athlete. Second has gotta be Deion (Sanders). blu: Any superstitions or rituals?

BARTON: I usually get a pair of shoes that will be my FSU shoes for the year.

Last year, I had a pair of old-school garnet suede Pumas. We used to have massive tailgate parties. We’d have live music, three or four bartenders. It was a good time. Scott Roix (a fellow booster and one of his best buddies) and I, we bought an old frat house and renovated it. We built a back deck and it’s got an infinity pool. The house is known to

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everybody as Old School. It’s basically a booster frat house (for more information go to fsuoldschool.com). It really takes the edge off winning or losing because, let me tell you, back in the ’90s, if we lost a game it was like mourning. We never lost. It was literally an earth-shattering experience. Now it’s evolved into (something) we’re accepting — I think begrudgingly — but we’ve accepted that we’re not in that dynasty. Hopefully we’re getting it back. SB Interview reprinted with permission from blu Tampa Bay Magazine. Originally printed in Vol. 1 Ed. 3. Email Erika Vidal Holmes at erika@ blutampabay.com or visit www.blutampabay.com to subscribe or purchase individual copies.

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Legacy Campaign Donors

Brian Swain “I did not enter into my volunteer work with the Seminole Boosters with the idea in mind of becoming Chairman of the Board, and I am humbled to have been selected for that future role. The next few years will be a time of change for our athletic program, but change will also bring opportunity. We have to be prepared for those changes and be ready to embrace the exciting new opportunities.

“I am grateful to be able to give back to my University and to help young student-athletes achieve their potential.”

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Photo by mike olivella

Burt Reynolds John & Carol Rice Chuck Ringel Kyle Riva John H. Robinson B. Bryan Robinson Scott Roix Robert J. Roschman Michael Rosciam Davage Runnels, Jr. Harry Sargeant, Jr. Steve Saterbo Lori & Christian Scherf Robert Schneider William & Patsy Schossler Raymond R. Schroeder Mark K. Scott Shad Family Brad Shoults Jeffrey Sluman Scott B. Smith Gordon & Bette Sprague Gene Stearns William Stephenson Janet L. Stoner Student Seminole Boosters Michael & Pat Styles Brian Swain T South Properties/Pac Development Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic Bill & Betty Tanner Nylah J. Thompson Maxie Lou Thorpe Candace & Paul Parker Tug McGraw Foundation Nina Turner Nada Usina Dr. & Mrs. Don Veller Russell A. Vorhis Betty Slappey Waddill Wakulla Seminole Boosters Davis E. Walden, III Joe Weider Derek & Courtney Whitis Charlotte & Ernest Williams Williams Family Foundation Kenneth Willis Charles R. Woods John Wyche Jim, Charlotte & Mike Yarbrough John F. Zibrida

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Legacy Campaign Review

Harry and Deborah Sargent with (L-R), Jerry Kutz, Charlie Barnes, Andy Miller and Tracey Marple.

Paving the future one brick at a time

The Legac y Walk

at Doak Campbell Stadium

8” x 8” Personalized Brick $1,000 Campaign Gift 5 Lines of Engraving 4” x 8” Personalized Brick $250 Campaign Gift 3 Lines of Engraving

A Legacy Walk brick is the perfect holiday gift for the Seminole fan in your life. This impressive walkway surrounds the University Center and features tributary bricks to Hall of Fame and legendary Seminole athletes.

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we saw the baseball parks that other big southern schools had built.

We gathered our largest donors and potential donors. We talked about the programs of legend, about how a first class winning collegiate athletic program plays on a huge national stage. Seminole athletics is the window through which much of America views Florida State University.

We told them that the window should always remain unclouded. It should sparkle, we said, and it should always enhance the academic architecture and mission of our University.

We asked them to imagine all those great programs of legend, and to imagine those programs traveling through history as if on a road. A road laid out straight by great coaches and leaders. They built the road as they went, cutting through a forest of time, layering the roadbed with winning seasons, paving the surface with All-Americans and championships in all sports.

Now Florida State was building its own road. And because we had a hell-on-wheels road builder named Bowden, we were able to cover twice the distance in half the time.

No other school had ever built a road that fast. We built and built and worked and seemed to be coming closer and closer to where the programs of legend dwelled.

But then we hit an obstruction. We suspected it was there all along, but we never really saw it clearly. And then, suddenly, there it was.

Think of the obstruction as a river. Our road ran right up to the river’s edge, and stopped.

We could see across the river. We could see Notre Dame and Michigan and Alabama and Tennessee and Texas and all the rest. We could see where they lived, right on the other side of the river. They had all reached the river’s edge years ago, and when they did, each one of them built a bridge.

Building that bridge is the last thing you do to complete the journey, that journey to the place where legends dwell, where they are secure and where excellence can be sustained indefinitely.

Bridges are different than roads. To build a bridge you have to sink foundations down

PHOTOS BY AMANDA CLARK AND COURTESY RANCOURT FAMILY

Barnes, from page 34

Legacy Campaign Review

deep beneath the water, to the bedrock.

And each of those pilings has someone’s name on it. That bridge is where all the scholarships for all the sports are endowed and where all the permanent athletic facilities are finished.

How many other schools, we wondered, have been left standing at the river’s edge? We determined that we would do whatever was necessary for the Seminoles to cross the river.

And so, Seminole Boosters conducted a five-year long capital campaign called The Dynasty Campaign to build our breathtaking array of first class athletic facilities. And a few years after that we began another six-year fund drive called The Legacy Campaign. Its purpose was to build the Seminole Boosters Scholarship Endowment so that all sports would always have the full complement of scholarships allowed by the NCAA. The Legacy Campaign concluded on October 31, 2009, having surpassed its goal of $110 million.

It’s time now to end our evening walk, as we stroll down by the river.

We used to live across that river. If we look hard through the cold twilight we can see the other houses, other families over on the opposite side of the river. We know how it feels to be over there and to yearn to be here. We know that some of them will never have the opportunity to come across, and we know that some are building their own bridges even now. And we know how hard it is.

But after two decades of work, here we are. We built the big house; we achieved success, glory and fame. We’ve lost some of that lately, but who on our street hasn’t had the same problem from time to time? You work some more and you get it all back.

We don’t have enough money yet to retire the mortgage, but we’re on solid ground. And our family business is plenty strong enough to recover and thrive.

This is our home. There’s a fire inside, and friends and family waiting to welcome us. This is where we belong, where we deserve to be.

Go ’Noles. SB

David and Regan Rancourt “Time and time again, personal friendships and professional opportunities have come from my ties to FSU. I have fond memories of my time at FSU and stay connected through athletics, Boosters and many dear friends. I have been blessed with so much. I am very fortunate to be in a position to give back. I would be thrilled if my contributions of scholarships and other gifts can enrich the lives of young student-athletes.

There is no greater feeling than giving and I encourage others to join so many before me and give back to FSU.”

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Booster Bash 2009

Phillip Griffitts and Chris Kraft

Nora Lee Smith and friends as Three Blind Mice

Gary Walsingham, Kathie and Steve Brown, Cumi Walsingham, JoAnn and Larry Strickland, Bonnie Farrell, Phillip Griffitts and Brian Swain

Cathy and Trey Jones

Gary and Cumi Walsingham

Josh Leven

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Legacy Campaign Review

The Right On Band The Right On Band

$114 million costume party was a blast All the beautiful people — Hugh Hefner and the Girls Next Door included — gathered to howl at the Moon at the Booster Bash on Halloween night. Executive Director Charlie Barnes announced that $112 million had been pledged to athletic scholarships and facilities during the six-year Legacy Campaign.

A throng of hundreds of generous donors came to the costume party dressed as doctors, nurses, sexy cops, priests (one accompanied by a pregnant nun), and reveled to the sounds of the “Right On” band.

Bill Clinton, accompanied by Little Red Riding Hood, Bernie Madoff, a glitter-grilled Pimp and a “Bubbafied” Gator fan (redundancy noted) got their celebratory groove on with motion picture and television personalities, including the stars from: The Bounty Hunter, Gilligan’s Island, Grease, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Wizard of Oz, Jerry McGuire, Dracula, Hantzel and Gretel, Caddy Shack and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Seminole Boosters would like to thank all of the generous donors who made the Legacy Campaign a success and to those creative souls who made the Booster Bash a blast.

Front: Gary Walsingham, Roger K. Hobbs, Denise Hobbs, Shirley Moore, Bruce and Anne Harrell.

Back row: Tom Carlson, Phillip and Jerrilyn Griffitts, Linda Dupree, Yvonne and Steve Brown, Steve and Kathie Brown, Devoe Moore and Les Akers

Holly and Brian Battle with Drew Weatherford

Tom Carlson and Scott Carswell

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Hoops

The womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basketball team lounge is a popular place among the players, especially to unwind and relax.

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Home Home away

from

Basketball Training Center makes life simpler for Seminole basketball players

By Ira Schoffel

S

PHOTO BY MIKE OLIVELLA

even years after its construction, Florida State’s 40,000-square foot Basketball Training Center still is considered one of the nation’s finest practice facilities.

Spacious coaches’ offices line the top floor. Cozy locker rooms and players’ lounges, complete with large-screen televisions, give FSU’s men’s and women’s players a place to prepare for practice or simply unwind. A sprawling weight room and a new-age training room take care of toning — and repairing — bodies.

And the practice court itself is big enough to accommodate numerous individual stations or two full-court games.

But if you ask the players, the training center might be lacking one thing that could make it complete: beds. Then, they might never have to leave, except for class. >>

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Hoops

The training facility is a one-stop shop for student-athletes.

Practice courts, the training/rehab room, weight room, Hall of Fame, coahesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offices, player lounges, team meeting rooms, the Conway Locker Room and study hall classrooms are all under one roof.

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PHOTO BY MIKE OLIVELLA

Solomon Alabi (back) and Chris Singleton (front) lift weights with members of the strength and conditioning staff keeping a watchful eye on technique.

“We probably spend about five hours a day here, every single day of the week,” sophomore guard Luke Loucks said. “It’s like a second home. We probably spend as much time here as we do at home. And the only thing we do at home is sleep.”

Like many of the student-athletes who suit up for Leonard Hamilton and Sue Semrau, Loucks cited the Basketball Training Center as one of the first things that caught his attention during the recruiting process.

He remembers talking on the phone with men’s assistant coach Andy Enfield and learning about all of the building’s amenities.

“You’ve got NBA coaches in here and you’ve got an NBA facility,” Enfield told him. “It’s a prime place to get better.”

“And once I got up here on my recruiting visit,” Loucks said, “I knew what they were talking about. It blew me away.”

The $10 million facility sits adjacent to the Donald L. Tucker Center, where the men’s and women’s teams play their games.

And it truly offers one-stop shopping.

Unlike some student-athletes, who practice in one location but have to return to the Moore Athletics Center to lift weights or receive other services, Florida State’s basketball players can find just about everything they need in one spot.

They can hit the training room to get stretched and taped before practice. After their workout, they can sit in a cold bath to help the recovery process. Then, they can learn more about the Xs and Os of the game in the facility’s numerous team meeting rooms.

The only time Florida State’s basketball players really have to go to the Moore Center is for meals and to meet with academic support staff.

“We have like our own little private island over here,” junior forward Jordan DeMercy said. “We have our training staff, our coaches … anything you could possibly need is in this one building. I don’t have to go anywhere else. This is home.”

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One of the players’ favorite perks is the fact that they have 24-hour access. They literally can stop by at any time of the day or night to work on their shooting or other skills.

“We’re very grateful that FSU supporters, like the Conways and Archibalds, were willing to donate money to make [this facility] possible.”

JORDAN DEMERCY, JUNIOR FORWARD

“All you’ve got to do is put your fingerprint in and you get in the door,” Loucks said, referring to the building’s fingerprint entry system. “You can come in here at 4 in the morning if you want to get some shots up.”

Though the center is designed primarily for the business of building better basketball teams, it also offers a “homey” feel.

The plush couches in the players’ lounges are perfect for decompressing before a big test or after a crucial game. And televisions throughout the building give players a chance to keep up with the news of the day.

“It’s nice having such a quality facility,” said Loucks, who is giving back to the university by serving on the Student Booster Board. “A lot of teams aren’t blessed with such a good facility, with everything you need from the weights to the trainers to the gym to the locker room. It’s high class.

It’s like an NBA facility.”

Added DeMercy: “To have a facility like this, it means the world to us. We’re very grateful that FSU supporters were willing to donate the money to make it possible.”

(Top to bottom): Athletic Trainer Sam Lunt has a dedicated space for player needs; Coach Hamilton’s office (the Del and Kathy Archibald Coach’s Office); Jordan DeMercy gets in his daily workout in the training center’s weight room.

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PHOTO BY mike olivella

SB

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Fund raising

It’s Crunch Time T

he 2008–2009 fiscal year for Seminole Boosters was a great example of the commitment and determination of our members. Our annual fund raised $13.8 million. While that represented a decrease from the prior year (when there was a 4 percent increase in dollars raised), one could argue that the contributions we raised exceeded the fundraising results that other charitable organizations are experiencing in this challenging economic time. We are very appreciative of the sacrifices that our donors made to their support of our athletic program.

We are frequently asked about the cost of Seminole Boosters fundraising. The board of directors is and has been committed to raising as much money as possible for the Department of Athletics while controlling the costs incurred to

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raise that money. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, our cost of fundraising was 10.96 percent. That is an audited number and includes all Seminole Boosters operating costs. The industry average runs between 15 percent and 20 percent, although that is expected to increase substantially as charities suffer through an unprecedented decline in revenue.

The other question we often hear is, “What does Seminole Boosters spend its money on?”

Over 87 percent of our expenses support the Department of Athletics and Florida State University in general. Your donations fund the studentathletes that you see competing throughout the year in 19 intercollegiate sports.

One of the false perceptions surrounding Seminole Boosters, Inc., is that the massive

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growth and development of athletic facilities was funded from cash sources. That is not accurate. Most of the facilities were financed with bonds. As of June 30, 2009, the principal balance of bond indebtedness was $66.33 million. The revenue streams pledged to pay off the debt remain consistent. It is important to note that your support is essential in Seminole Boosters being able to continue to support the needs of the Department of Athletics.

In summary, the 2008–2009 year showed the resiliency of our members and their commitment to helping Seminole Boosters provide the support needed to sustain excellence for the Department of Athletics.

PHOTO BY XXXXXXXXXXX

Consider your alma mater at year’s-end BY JERRY KUTZ

F

undraising during October and November was unique and inspirational and well worth sharing. But before we go there, let me set the scene for you. There are only a couple of weeks left in our fundraising year for the annual fund, which pays the yearly $9 million cost of scholarships, and we are about 7 percent behind where we want to be.

Not bad in this economy. But again, not where we need to be. This is the time of year when we need to ask our donors to make an additional yearend gift to reach our 2009 goal and ask you to renew your pledge for 2010. Unfortunately, the timing isn’t great, with more bad publicity than good.

We’ve had numerous donors call with distinctly different opinions on what the problem is and the solution should be and vows to withhold support if their prescribed course of action is not taken. As a result, there’s been a natural hesitation to send the year-end solicitation letter.

So, now that we’ve set the scene, here’s the rest of the story.

Amid that stream of calls from concerned Seminole Booster members, we received a call from Garrett and Megan Harbison, recent graduates and newlyweds living in Jacksonville. They too were concerned about what they had been reading and hearing but had called for a completely different reason. The adversity inspired them to take action. In spite of the tight budget that accompanies new jobs and a start-up home, they figured the best thing they could do to help their beloved program was to join Seminole Boosters at the Warrior level.

Their call set into motion a series of other calls from fans who wanted to take action by increasing their membership, making small or large additional gifts, or volunteering to recruit new members.

A strong trend of support began to develop that inspired this article.

“FSU athletics needs Seminole Boosters support to exist — now more than ever,” said Bill Rafferty, a Miami native who increased his pledge to the Golden Chief status. “The burden of funding scholarships is heavy, so I wanted to give the Boosters some encouragement and to let our rivals know we Seminoles are here in thick and thin.”

That same evening, hours after FSU lost to Georgia Tech, two of our volunteers approached me to announce that one had decided to double his pledge and the other had decided to sign a

$100,000 endowed scholarship pledge that he had been contemplating.

“Your job at Seminole Boosters is to ask for money so that we do not lose any ground to our rivals,” they said. “And our job as Seminole Booster donors is to decide how much to give. There are plenty of other people out there that think like us, if you will only do your job and ask.”

The actions of these donors inspired me to write this column and to ask you to make that additional tax-deductible pledge — of whatever amount you decide — and renew your membership now for 2010.

You can do so by calling (850) 644-3484 or by visiting www.seminole-boosters.com. SB

FSU BOOSTERS REVENUE 2008–2009 Fiscal Year

Concessions

959,545

University Center Club, net

712,381

Skybox Revenues

2,808,469

Contributions

22,737,066

Facility Rent

1,850,000

Media Rights Fees

5,476,489

Other Revenue

624,152

Program Service

21,021,770

Supporting Service

4,037,873

Capital Projects

1,942,748

Interest & Depreciation Expense

3,256,531

Other Non-Operating Expense

2,314,138

Annual Fund Dollars Members

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13,848,359 15,794

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The Legend of Mickey Andrews

Coach Andrews seems as much a part of FSU as Coach Bowden. He is a great

teacher and made so many players better over the years.

Byand Iramotivator Schoffel

T

he facts and figures are extraordinary. The years of top-ranked defenses. The scores of AllAmerican and All-ACC selections. The 18 first-round NFL picks. The two national titles and 12 Atlantic Coast Conference crowns.

But it won’t be the statistics or championships that define Mickey Andrews’ legacy as Florida State’s defensive coordinator. It will be the boys he groomed into men, the lives he changed with his special brand of tough love and the absolute respect he has earned from colleagues and former players.

Those were all on display Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, as dusk turned to night on a dimly lit Florida State practice field. Just a few hours earlier, Andrews had announced with a simple press release that this would be his final season with the Seminoles. His 26th year on Bobby Bowden’s staff would be his last.

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“For 47 years, it’s been about me,” Andrews said. “Now it’s time to be about us — my family.”

Andrews’ final day at Florida State will be Feb. 10, 2010; the date is special to the legendary coordinator because it marks the anniversary of his hire date in 1984.

In the meantime, he will have a precious few months to enjoy the relationships that have made his career so special.

On the night he made his retirement official, Andrews walked off the Seminoles’ practice fields the way he has so many times before. He had just finished running his players through some post-practice “gassers,” encouraging them to give all of themselves to the game he loves. He then started making his way to a waiting throng of media.

It wouldn’t be an easy conversation for Andrews, who never craved or sought the public spotlight. Throughout the successes of his career, Andrews SEM I N O LE-BO OST ERS .CO M

PHOTO BY russell grace and mike olivella and the tallahassee democrat

Former Seminole All-American defensive end Peter Boulware

Tribute

“He’s been here 26 years and we’ve had such success and you just have to credit him with the success we’ve had since he came. He’s done such a great job. We’ll miss him and his wife and family. He’s a good church man and a good civic man and always has his priorities in order and puts his family ahead of football. He’s a guy that has never slowed down. He’s just as enthusiastic now as he was when he came here.”

Bobby Bowden, Florida State head coach, on Andrews deferred all of the credit to others — to Bowden, to his fellow assistant coaches and the players. He only turned the focus on himself when there was blame to be assigned.

As if they could sense their leader needed support, Andrews’ players and assistants surrounded him at the impromptu news conference. With solemn faces they stood behind him, the way he has done for them for all these years.

The gesture nearly brought Andrews to tears.

“I don’t know how anybody could be more fortunate than to have a job like I do,”

Andrews said, after taking a few moments to compose himself. “With the coaches that I work with and these guys back here, I fuss at them a lot of times and say things I ought not to say, but they know I love them.

And I just want the best for them.”

Andrews, 68, was the architect of defenses that powered Florida State to 14 consecutive top-five finishes in the Associated Press poll (1987–2000), and head coach Bobby Bowden has said he deserves much credit for the Seminoles’ national championships in 1993 and ’99.

Under Andrews, Florida State led the S EMINO LE-BO OST ERS .CO M

nation in pass defense in 1998, and the Seminoles were No. 1 against the run in 1996 and 1997.

The 2009 campaign was difficult for Andrews, who was tasked with replacing seven starters from a defense that was among the best in the conference and ranked 15th nationally. But the struggles of a young squad played no role in Andrews’ retirement decision; he simply wanted to spend more time with his wife, Diane, and to help raise his grandchildren. Andrews’ only son, Ronnie, died unexpectedly two years ago, leaving behind two young sons.

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Tribute

Making a Case For Andrews’ Defense Over the course of defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews’ 26 seasons at Florida State, his unit has produced 46 Associated Press All-Americans (1st, 2nd, 3rd team and honorable mention). Here is a list of first-team All-American defensive players who have starred on his watch from 1984-present. It includes 17 (*) consensus All-Americans.

LB Paul McGowan (1987), CB Deion Sanders* (1987) CB Deion Sanders* (1988), CB LeRoy Butler* (1989) CB Terrell Buckley* (1991), LB Marvin Jones* (1991) LB Marvin Jones* (1992), LB Derrick Brooks* (1993) CB Corey Sawyer* (1993), CB Clifton Abraham* (1994) LB Derrick Brooks* (1994), DE Derrick Alexander (1994) DE Peter Boulware* (1996), DE Reinard Wilson* (1996) LB Sam Cowart* (1997), DE Andre Wadsworth* (1997) DT Corey Simon (1998), DT Corey Simon* (1999) DE Jamal Reynolds* (2000), CB Tay Cody* (2000) NFL Selects Andrews’ Best Beginning with the 1985 NFL Draft, 73 of Andrews’ defensive players have been selected, including 18 first-round picks. The plentiful supply of FSU defensive players selected includes seven drafts with at least five Seminoles chosen, including the 2006 draft, which produced six (four in the first round). The first-round list includes ( ) denoting overall selection.

1989 CB Deion Sanders (5), 1992 CB Terrell Buckley (5) 1993 LB Marvin Jones (4), 1995 DE Derrick Alexander (11) 1995 S Devin Bush (26), 1995 LB Derrick Brooks (28) 1997 DE Peter Boulware (4), 1997 DE Reinard Wilson (14) 1998 DE Andre Wadsworth (3), 2000 DT Corey Simon (6) 2001 DE Jamal Reynolds (10), 2001 S Derrick Brooks (28) 2005 DT Travis Johnson (16), 2006 LB Ernie Sims (9) 2006 DE Kamerion Wimbley (13), 2006 DT Brodrick Bunkley (14), 2006 CB Antonio Cromartie (19), 2007 LB Lawrence Timmons (15)

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“As much as I love Florida State and love these guys back here, time has just gotten so important for me now,” Andrews said. “I can’t coach football and do what I need to do with the [family] responsibilities that I’ve got now. It’s gonna be hard on us. But it’s time. It’s just time for it to happen.”

Andrews played at Alabama under Paul “Bear” Bryant and was a member of two national championship teams (1961 and 1964). Known as a taskmaster at practice and an aggressive play-caller in games, Andrews’ sideline rants are legendary.

But the Seminoles’ players say what makes Andrews special is that he always comes back later with encouraging words and a hug or pat on the back.

“The thing about it is, a lot of people don’t know,” junior linebacker Kendall Smith said.

“They see coach Andrews over there yelling

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… but all he wants is for us to be good. He wants us to be the best football player we can be. He doesn’t want anything else.”

As he reflected on his career at Florida State — on the Seminoles’ rise from upstart program to national titan — Andrews couldn’t help but remember all the people who pitched in along the way.

The players, who shed their blood, sweat and tears on fields across the country. The fans, who loaded up their families every fall weekend and spent untold dollars to travel to games near and far.

The fellow coaches, who left their wives and families at home while they spent late nights in offices, searching for any last piece of information that might give the Seminoles an edge on game day.

And the Seminole Boosters, who provided any — and every — thing the program

PHOTO BY ross obley, fsu photo lab and seminole boosters

Andrews’ Achievements A list of the Florida State defensive accomplishments under Mickey Andrews, as well as his personal accomplishments and awards over the course of his coaching career: Longest-tenured and most successful assistant coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference in his 26th season at Florida State // Winner of the 1996 inaugural Frank Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant coach // All-American Football Foundation’s national assistant coach of the year in 2000 // National defensive coordinator of the year, American Football Coach’s Magazine in 1998 // National assistant coach of the year, Athlon magazine in 1991 // Architect of the nation’s top-ranked total defense and passing defense in 1998 and the nation’s best rushing defense in 1996 and 1997 // His FSU defense has been ranked in the top five nationally against the run in seven of the last 16 seasons. No other program has produced more top 10 rushing defenses since the 1999 national championship season // The Seminoles led the nation in tackles for loss in 2008, ranked fourth in sacks and sixth in pass defense // Has won five national championships as a player (Alabama) and a coach // A member of three halls of fame: Livingston (now West Alabama), Wiregrass (Dothan, Ala.) and State of Alabama Hall of Fame // Has coached two Jim Thorpe Award winners (Deion Sanders and Terrell Buckley), two Butkus Award winners (Paul McGowan and Marvin Jones) and two Lombardi Award winners (Jones and Jamal Reynolds) // Has been instrumental in launching the coaching careers of his former FSU players, including current assistant Odell Haggins and graduate assistant Terrell Buckley, as well as Brian Xanders, James Colzie, Bill Ragans and countless others.

(Above): Andrews with safety Corey Mangum; (Left): Greg Reid pays tribute to his coach.

Some of the things I learned from Coach Andrews I teach [to youths] today.

He is single-handedly probably the most influential coach I’ve ever had.

My coaching style right now is a little bit like Mickey. I’m a little rough on them, but I love them when practice is over.

Former Seminole All-American cornerback Deion Sanders

Seminole fans were not surprised

when longtime defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews announced his plans to retire after the 2009 season, as he had hinted at it for the past couple of years.

Mickey Andrews pictured at the 1994 National Championship game, which concluded the 1993 Championship season; Mickey and Diane Andrews served as 2009 FSU Homecoming Grand Marshal.

needed to compete at the highest levels.

“When you look at what was accomplished in the late ’80s and the ’90s, there’s a lot of people involved with it,” Andrews said. “It was players, it was coaches, it was support people, it was fans, it was the boosters and it was even the media. It wouldn’t have happened without everybody doing their part. Everybody’s got a role to play.

“And the people are what make it special.

From the time I came here to what our facilities are now, they’re exceptional. They’re really exceptional. But at the end of the day, it’s not the brick and mortar that makes Florida State special. It’s the people.” SB

But Seminole Territory was saddened, because Mickey and Diane Andrews are among the most approachable people ever to grace the Seminole sports scene.

Upon hearing the news, one fan — Bill Bufe — took action by starting a group endowment in Mickey and Diane Andrews’ name.

“I wanted to honor these two great Seminoles and thought the most lasting way to do it was to start an endowment fund in their honor that will allow future defensive players to attend FSU on scholarship,” said Bufe, who contributed $500 of his own money and is requesting a corporate match for another $500.

After e-mailing the Seminole Booster office to establish the fund, Bufe began the marketing process. He immediately sent a note to all of his friends asking them to contribute to the group endowment or to call the Seminole Booster office with questions. Pledges of all sizes began to arrive.

The grass-roots effort to endow a scholarship seems especially fitting for this couple, who greatly enjoyed meeting Seminole fans and forming lifelong friendships.

“After watching the video of Mickey’s interview with his players behind him, I was moved,” Bufe said. “When he said, ‘I love these guys,’ I thought what better way to show our appreciation than to endow a scholarship in the name of Mickey and Diane Andrews.

“Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Mickey, I did get the opportunity to meet Diane this year after the BYU game. She is a class act. They are a class act.”

The monies donated to this endowment will be invested with only the earnings used to pay the annual cost of a scholarship. Since the donated money (principal) will never be spent, the Mickey and Diane Andrews endowment will live forever.

Tax-deductible donations of any amount are welcome. Gifts of $1,000 or more can be spread over five years.

If you would like to contribute to the endowment, or need additional information, please call the Seminole Booster office at (850) 644-3484.

Bill Bufe and all Seminole fans who appreciate Mickey and Diane would greatly appreciate your gift — not to mention the generations of Seminole defenders who will benefit from your generosity.

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Player Profile

DETERMINED

SPIRIT C

ristian Ponder knows he can’t h change the past, but he can certainly learn from it and apply its lessons to immediate challenges. It’s called accountability. Ponder wants to make sure today and the future are better for Florida State University and its football program.

And a healing Ponder believes he still has plenty left to accomplish in Tallahassee.

The Seminoles’ talented redshirt junior quarterback, is on the cusp of becoming the school’s next celebrity.

So says Bobby Bowden, FSU’s resident 80-year-old icon who has been in a historic race with Joe Paterno of Penn State to become major college football’s winningest coach.

The NFL has kept a close eye on Ponder, too.

Before the 2009 season, few folks would ever have thrown Ponder’s name into the mix of possible earlyentries into the 2010 NFL Draft. But Ponder, who already has his undergraduate degree in finance, put up

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numbers that have given him name recognition and may make the draft difficult to pass up.

The NFL, however, will now probably have to wait on Ponder until 2011.

Ponder separated his right throwing shoulder at Clemson on Nov. 7, on a tackle he made following an interception. The injury required surgery and Ponder missed the remainder of a season that saw him lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in passing (301.9 yards per game) and total offense (321.8 yards per game), giving the Seminoles an opportunity to win each time they stepped on the field.

“I think things have changed now,” said Ponder, whose performance had earned him semifinalist honors for the Maxwell Award, presented to college football’s player of the year, and put him into contention for the Manning Award and the

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PHOTO BY ROSS OBLEY

With an M.B.A. already in hand, Ponder sets his sights on winning Championships

By Jim Henry

Serving as an Executive Board member for Student Boosters and an avid community volunteer, Ponder strives to enhance the image of student-athletes.

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Player Profile

Wuerffel Trophy.” We’ll see toward the end of the season. (But) I most likely will be back. I still have a lot to accomplish here.”

Regardless of his future as a pro quarterback, it’s easy to see why Ponder is in demand. He genuinely cares and wants to make a difference.

It takes hard work to excel at being a student and an athlete, but Ponder has effectively combined both. He’s competitive, playing hard on the field and in the classroom. He communicates effectively with professors, coaches, teammates and the community. He respects his values, his identity and has embraced the responsibility required to affect change, from working with Seminole Student Boosters as an active executive board member to scheduling community service time for himself and teammates.

Ponder doesn’t view these as tasks, rather as worthy channels to improve the program’s image and build team chemistry. Any quarterback knows that promises must be followed with results.

Best yet, Ponder has thoroughly enjoyed the ride and being an integral part of the Seminole family. He understands how the diversity of the college experience teaches life lessons and, quite frankly, it’s not something that everyone is fortunate enough to experience.

Ponder’s wide, toothy smile and easy laugh give it away as he has helped the football Seminoles regain the trust and appreciation of fans.

do that, all that stuff doesn’t matter. I mean, football is a game that we all enjoy playing and we love doing.

“It’s about the team and not what anyone thinks (negatively).”

It was the positive opinions, specifically at the professional level, that surely would have determined Ponder’s future and whether he returned to FSU next season.

There also was increased debate nationally at the collegiate level that Ponder deserved Heisman Trophy consideration for his outstanding play. He ranked among the top-10 leaders nationally in four categories prior to being injured.

Unlike so many spread-option and runand-gun gimmick quarterbacks in college football, Ponder excelled in the Seminoles’ pro-style offense and actually looked like an NFL-ready quarterback. He has strength, smarts and savvy.

“I think he can do some great things in the future here,” Jimbo Fisher, FSU’s offensive coordinator-quarterback coach said prior to Ponder’s injury but whose feelings haven’t changed.

“They keep talking about the hype and the season’s he had, that he’d be a Heisman guy and a player of the year (candidate).

He can be a phenomenal player ... and put us back right on top. I really believe that.

But if it’s best for him to go, I’ll be the first one to kick him out the door.”

If Ponder, expected to be at full strength following surgery and rehabilitation, instead walks through the door that leads him back on campus, he should return as

“For what it’s worth, I think he’s a hell of a player. Is he good enough to win the Heisman?

Absolutely.” Brett McMurphy, AOL FanHouse “I am trying to help shine a new light on FSU and trying to strengthen our positive image as well as trying to get this team back to being a successful team,” Ponder said.

“I have to play within the abilities that I have been given, and my whole goal is — it’s not about individual statistics or winning awards — it’s just to put my team in the best position to win. As long as I can

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a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, surely a preseason All-American as well as a respected ambassador for FSU. “Does he want to try to climax that college experience or not,” said Bowden, who would like nothing better than to end his own career on a high note, a goal that’s more realistic with a proven quarterback such as Ponder.

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(Below): Ponder poses with Tony Petruzzi and Jacob Altmiller at a charity fundraiser for the Dick Howser Center.

“Everette Brown (former FSU defensive end and second-round selection of the Carolina Panthers) chose not to climax that; he could have been maybe (college football’s) defensive player of the year.

Knowing him (Ponder), I would think he was leaning on staying, no matter what.”

That would be a good thing for FSU. No, make that a great thing.

The Seminoles already have two Heisman winners in quarterbacks Charlie Ward (1993) and Chris Weinke (2000) who have a vote in whether fellow Texan Ponder becomes the third. (Ward is coaching

high school football outside Houston and Weinke is a financial advisor in Austin.)

Weinke is unabashedly impressed by Ponder, the son of former Seminole defensive lineman David Ponder, who lives in Colleyville, Texas. “He’s as tough as it gets,” Weinke said after watching Ponder in person in the Seminoles’ September win at BYU. “He goes out there and lays it on the line every time and I think (other players) feed off that.”

Yet, Ponder — mainly because he played for an average team in 2009 — wasn’t fully appreciated by voters of the country’s most

prestigious awards. For instance, he wasn’t among the 15 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, which goes to the nation’s best college quarterback.

It’s about winning, and FSU always has a chance to win with Ponder behind center.

Since 1991, 16 of the past 18 Heisman Trophy winners had one thing in common — they played for teams ranked in the top five nationally. Five of the last six winners were on either the nation’s No. 1 or No. 2 ranked team.

Only Florida’s Tim Tebow in 2007 and Texas’ Ricky Williams in 1998 won the

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Heisman while playing for teams that were not ranked on an Associated Press top five team entering the bowl games (when the Heisman is awarded). In 2007, Florida was No. 12 and in 1998, Texas was No. 20.

“Unfortunately Ponder’s Heisman chances depend on how well Florida State does next season,” said Heisman voter Brett McMurphy of AOL FanHouse. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think — or wouldn’t think — that he is a worthy candidate, but the majority of voters seem more concerned with the quality of the team instead of the quality of the player. For what it’s worth, I think he’s a hell of a player. Is he good enough to win the Heisman? Absolutely. Will Florida State be good enough?

We’ll find out.”

As will FSU fans concerning Ponder’s future plans.

“Obviously, after the season, I’ll take an evaluation (from the NFL) and see what happens and make a decision after that,’’ Ponder said prior to his injury.

This evaluation process is important to Ponder even if he plans to return to FSU next year.

“It would be prudent for him to apply for the approved NCAA disability insurance policies available to exceptional studentathletes,” said Brian Battle, who manages NCAA compliance issues for FSU. “These policies can range from $500,000 to $5 million per year, the level of coverage depends upon the projected round in which he could be taken in the NFL draft.”

Ponder is too smart and too accountable not to insure his financial future while helping his teammates improve FSU’s future.

“I see myself playing here next year, but we’ll see what they say and what happens.

There’s a chance of either way,” Ponder said before the Clemson game and his injury. “The biggest thing that would bring me back is we’d have a lot of potential next year as a team; I think we can get to that national championship level.”

Ponder also added that another dozen or so starts in 2010 would only help prepare him better for the NFL. And surely strengthen his legacy at FSU. SB

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tor Randy Spetman. These former stude

during Hall of Fame weekend. nt-athletes were honored in September

of

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Florida Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Athletic Hall of Fame inducted seven new members on Friday, September 11 during the annual induction ceremony.

FSU inducted baseball star Mike Augustine, recordsetting pole vaulter Jeff Bray, softball standout Danielle Cox, volleyball coaching legend Dr. Cecile Reynaud, standout golfer Bob Shave and football All-American Reinard Wilson. Dennis Boyle was posthumously honored as the Moore-Stone Award winner.

Photos by ROSS OBLEY AND MIKE OLIVELLA

Athletics Direc 2009 FSU Hall of Fame inductees with

Jeff Bray

Bobby Shave

I walked around campus today before the ceremony and it was just unbelievable.

Florida State has grown up.

It’s matured since 1989 when I first walked on this campus and I just think everyone has done an unbelievable job. …

Florida State is such a great university. It is the greatest place to be in America — and I really believe that.

I’m Bobby Shave and I love FSU. Two of my daughters are here with me and they came to Florida State and they love FSU….I didn’t know anyone when I came to Florida State in 1955 from Ohio, so Coach (Don) Veller and his wife really took me under their wing. It was because of Coach Veller that after my career on the tour I became the golf coach at FIU. I admired the lifestyle and the academic environment that Dr. Veller showed me as a player.

Mike Augustine

Danielle Cox

I was lucky enough to play for extraordinary coaches and with extraordinary players when I was at Florida State. When my parents dropped me off from Philadelphia, I had never been more than 100 miles from home and there I was in Smith Hall and knew nobody…I learned a number of things playing at Florida State. Two of the things I learned here and used in my professional life were balance and perserverance. You’re never as good as that 5 for 5 day and you’re never as bad as the 0 for 5 day and I learned that balance right here. I didn’t play hardly at all as a sophomore and I learned perseverance and working through things to keep going. I learned those lessons here and applied them my whole life.

Dr. Cecile Reynaud

What I cherished more than anything I accomplished, more than any record I hold, is the relationships that developed while I was at Florida State. I am thankful every day that I was and will forever be a Florida State Seminole.

Reinard Wilson

When I first came here to coach, they thought I was one of the players and as I left they thought I was one of the grandmothers…I couldn’t ask for a better career at this great university. I had the opportunity to lead young women hopefully into productive lives, and I’ve had a chance to represent Florida State University.

The best decision I ever made was to accept a scholarship to come to Florida State University.

People have asked me in interviews what the best moment I had playing at FSU was, and I tell them that I enjoyed every single minute of playing here.

I played with great players and great teammates. I played for the best coach in the history of the game and my assistant coaches were going to get the best out of everyone. I knew I had to make plays because if I didn’t there was someone right behind me or right beside me that would...I’m so proud to be in the Hall of Fame and proud to be from Florida State University.

Boyle family

After earning his bachelors and masters degrees at Florida State, Dennis Boyle became the athletic department’s first marketing director in 1980. Boyle’s duties included promoting basketball and baseball, filling the seats in the football stadium and developing a radio and television network during the time when Florida was controlling the electronic media. Before he left his position, 60 stations carried FSU football with 15 also carrying basketball and a local station (WTNT) broadcasting live FSU baseball. Boyle successfully negotiated the first tape-delayed broadcast of a college football game in the state — a win against the Gators. His interaction with Tallahassee’s CBS affiliate, WCTV, put him in close contact with the Phipps family, who hired him him in 1982.

In 1992, Boyle served as Chairman of Seminole Boosters during its 40th anniversary and, in 1995, Dennis and his wife, Robin, funded an endowment designated for the Athletics Department for Academic Excellence. As CEO of Phipps Ventures, Inc., Boyle was instrumental in establishing the John H. Phipps Endowment, which supports multiple scholarships along with a named professorship in the FSU Department of Communications. He and Robin also funded the Boyle Scholarship as well as numerous other academic college endowments. He was an energetic personality who helped hospitals, universities and the many causes to which he donated advice and money.

Dennis Boyle is the only individual to ever serve Florida State both as an assistant athletic director and as Chairman of Seminole Boosters. His hard work and dedication toward his Alma Mater have earned him a place in the FSU Sports Hall of Fame.

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Determined toâ&#x20AC;&#x2030;Succeed Former FSU football player Homer Thomas does not let permament injuries inflicted by drunk driver sideline his degree By Rob Wilson

I

Homer Thomas, born in Pompano Beach in 1958, was a football star at Pompano Beach High, graduating in 1976. For college, he selected Kansas State, but after one year transferred to Florida State. He played defensive back for the Seminoles, earning a letter in 1980 and 1981 in a reserve role on two of the finest defenses in Florida State history. While playing for Bobby Bowden and FSU, Thomas says he forged lasting friendships with backfield teammates Bobby Butler, Keith Jones and Monk Bonasorte and especially close relationships with Harvey Clayton and Alphonso Carreker, with whom he stayed in close contact.

Thomas left Florida State following his senior season, without his degree, and tackled his business career with the same enthusiasm he pursued pass receivers. He went to work for Mutual of Omaha and then Broward County Schools before becoming an NFL Agent in 1986, a career path he would pursue for the next seven years despite a horrific accident that changed his life.

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PHOTOS COURTESY FSU SPORTS INFO

t has often been said that the lessons of a great teacher or a great coach can live forever â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and it is the words of Bobby Bowden that are the key to an impressive graduate who received his degree in August.

Thomas was driving west over one of the many bridges that crown the Intracoastal Waterway in Hollywood, Fla., when a drunk driver crested the bridge on the wrong side of the road and hit Thomas head-on. Police would discover that the drunk driver had traveled nearly four miles on the wrong side of the road before the accident that severely damaged Thomas’ vision.

“When I was at (Florida) State, Coach Bowden would always talk to us about finishing. He was not just talking about practice or football, but he extended it to life.”

Refusing to let the injuries sideline him, Thomas continued to work as an agent and in 1993 opened several Subway Restaurants that he still owns today. He became a financial advisor with Morgan-Stanley before the words of Bobby Bowden came back to drive him to get his degree.

“When I was at (Florida) State, Coach Bowden would always talk to us about finishing,” said Homer when asked why he reenrolled at FSU nearly 30 years after leaving. “He was not just talking about practice or football, but he extended it to life. He would talk about you don’t know what your opportunities will be, but always finish.

“I didn’t want to be a hypocrite to my children. My degree was something I had not finished and I was not a very good example for them. It was something unfinished in my life and that charge by Coach Bowden was always on my mind.”

Thomas enrolled at FSU and was taking classes before any one in athletics knew he had returned. A professor contacted Bill Shults, director of Academic Athletic Support, for the name of a tutor who might assist Thomas, who was having difficulty in a class because he couldn’t see large map displays used during lectures. Shults met Thomas, set up a tutor and then went the extra mile to line up financial assistance through the FSU Foundation for former student-athletes returning for degree completion.

“Homer is really a remarkable person and his determination and sincerity were just overwhelming,” said Shults. “The program

that is in place through the Foundation to assist former student-athletes is there for these types of potential graduates. He is a real inspiration.”

Thomas graduated in August with a degree in Rehab Counseling Service and a minor in criminology. He has already applied to a number of prominent law

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schools, including FSU, where he hopes to continue his education.

As a survivor of a near fatal crash, a successful businessman and a determined father, during his march at Saturday’s graduation ceremony, Homer Thomas may walk a little taller than most of his classmates. SB

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Three members of the Seminole Student Boosters Executive Board were named to the 2009 Homecoming Court. They are (right to left): President Arielle Haynes, Vice President Tyson Brock and Melanie Cabassol, a member of the FSU dive team and President of the StudentAthlete Advisory Council.

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Photos by seminole boosters and mike olivella

Student Boosters

Students Making the Connection Making the connection. It happens every semester when Seminole Student Boosters host an event called Renegade Round-up, where student members get to mix and mingle with student-athletes off the playing field. By Arielle Haynes, Seminole Student Boosters President

E

ven after a long day of classes, meetings and practice, the guys still manage to squeeze in a little time for the dedicated fans and students of this University. Christian Ponder and twelve of his teammates hosted the Renegade Round Up “meeting” in late September. They enjoyed BBQ with the students, answered questions, took photographs and thanked the fans for their support.

This event was the most attended Student Booster event of the year, drawing more than 260 students. It’s a quid pro quo relationship. We support the team, they in turn support the events by volunteering to get to know the students who cheer for them every week.

FSU quarterbacks E.J. Manuel and Christian Ponder, flanking President Arielle Haynes, are members of the Seminole Student Boosters Executive Board.

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True Seminole Update The True Seminole Campaign ends on Dec. 31, 2009, so please support the campaign by purchasing a True Seminole shirt. Proceeds fund an endowed athletic scholarship. The 2008-09 recipient was E.J. Manuel.

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Making the connection I can’t quantify how many new “I love CP7” signs popped up in Doak S. Campbell Stadium since that event, but it’s fair to assume the number increased, along with signs of support for E.J. Manuel, Taiwan Easterling, Lonnie Pryor, Jermaine Thomas, Rod Owens, Jacobi McDaniel, Markus White and Bert Reed.

The request only needs to be made one time. Student Boosters ask the team to lead off the show and they gladly support Student Booster events, every time.

Quid pro quo After the upset victory over BYU, members of Student Boosters rallied at the stadium to welcome the football team home from its trip out West. The team plane touched down at 4:30 a.m. and within an hour, when the charter buses pulled into Doak Campbell Stadium, more than 50 Student Booster members were there to cheer the players on with signs, music and chants.

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Even in defeat, the membership is behind this team 100 percent, which is why we join Boosters. At 5:30 a.m. or during primetime on a Saturday night, our love for FSU student athletes never ceases. SB

FSU Homecoming is a special time of the year. Seminole Student Boosters was involved and represented in a very special way.

Three Student Booster executive board members were elected to the 12-member Homecoming Court. President Arielle Haynes, Vice President Tyson Brock and Melanie Cabassol, a Seminole Student-Athlete who serves on the Board, participated in a week of Homecoming events, which ended with the walk down midfield at halftime during the FSU football game against N.C. State.

Booster Events

Marice Leo with Billy Sexton at the Booster gathering during BC weekend

Jimbo Fisher and Beth Herod at the Booster gathering during BC weekend

Drew Weatherford with Maria Schneider and daughters Grace and Caroline at the Booster gathering during BC weekend

Bobby Bowden with Capt. Michael J. Carrasquilla at a Booster luncheon

Flyover Team with Chief Osceola pregame James Warren, Beth Herod and Terrell Buckley at the Booster gathering during BC weekend

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Compliance

Boosters

Key Terms Every Florida State Booster, Alumni and Friend Should Know

Florida State Athletics has enjoyed tremendous success over the past 50 years. A key component has been the unfaltering support of the Seminole Boosters and friends. Compliance with NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference rules is one of the highest priorities for Florida State and the Department of Athletics. Here are a few frequently asked questions regarding the interaction between FSU athletics representatives (boosters) and current and prospective student-athletes. If you have further questions, please contact the FSU Athletics Compliance Office at (850) 644-4272.

What may boosters do?

Permissible activities with prospective student-athletes: • You may continue to have contact with an established family friend or neighbor who is a prospect as long as such contact is not for recruiting purposes and is not initiated by a FSU coaching staff member.

• You may bring outstanding prospects to the attention of the FSU coaching staff by sending the coach newspaper clippings and other information about the individual.

• You may assist a prospective studentathlete who has signed a National Letter of Intent with securing employment the summer before he/she enrolls in FSU. All arrangements of employment must be approved by the Compliance Office.

Permissible activities with currently enrolled student-athletes: • You may have contact with enrolled student-athletes on campus.

• You may invite a student-athlete(s) or the entire team for a meal at your home and provide transportation to the event. The meal, which may be catered, should be limited to infrequent or special occasions (holidays, birthday, etc.) Please seek permission from the Compliance Office first.

• You may invite an entire team for a meal when they are visiting your city for an away-from-home athletic event. When the team is on the road, this meal must take place at the booster’s home and approved by the Compliance Office.

• You may assist a student-athlete with securing summer and post graduation employment. All arrangements of employment must be approved by the Compliance Office.

What are some things boosters cannot do?

• Y ou may not employ or use the name or picture of a student-athlete to directly or indirectly advertise, recommend or promote the sale or use of a commercial product or service.

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• Y ou may not raise funds or donate money to send a student-athlete’s parents, guardians or friends to attend an athletic contest.

• You may not attend a public event at which the prospective student-athlete is in attendance if you are there to try and recruit the athlete.

• You may not contact a prospect via Facebook, MySpace or any other social networking site in attempt to persuade the prospect to attend FSU.

Extra Benefits Boosters Cannot Provide • C ash or gifts.

• The use of personal property (e.g., boats, summer houses/condos, automobiles).

• A special discount arrangement or credit on a purchase (e.g., airline tickets, clothing).

• Arranging, providing or co-signing a loan.

• Providing any kind of transportation or the use of a car.

• Gifts of food, clothing or equipment.

• Arranging or providing free or reduced cost of professional services (e.g., free dental or medical services, haircuts, automotive services, laundry, dry cleaning).

• Entertainment or the purchase of meals or services at commercial establishments.

• An invitation to play on your country club’s golf course or to eat a meal there.

• A benefit connected with off-campus housing (e.g., television sets, electronic equipment, room furnishings and specialized recreational facilities).

• Room, board or transportation costs (including a stay in your home or transportation to or from a job).

• Financial rewards for athletic performance.

• An honorarium or fee for a speaking engagement or other appearance.

• Arranging or providing free or reducedcost housing.

• Arranging or providing employment for a student-athlete’s parents, guardians or friends.

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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS (as of October 19, 2009)

LEGACY CHIEF Tamara Patrick

GOLDEN CHIEF James Bates Kyle Mowitz Don & Kris Sarvis Chris Dodge Bouchard Insurance Pate Electric, Inc.

SILVER CHIEF

Peter Lewis Lee & Katharine Willis Dennis & Lynn Close Christian Bibisi Delmar Johnson Randy & Rebecca Spetman Tom Serio Ty Thornton Jack Smith David R. Flowers Lewis Digital Inc Copper River Funding

TOMAHAWK

Thomas C. Holt, Jr. Mr. Thomas E. Peterson Catherine N. Williams Elizabeth C. Herod Brian T. Nugent Christopher & Tayreen Nelson Jaysen Sudnykovych Scott Freeman Michael H. Moody R. Guy Stephens Michelle Doner Jennifer E. Delgado Corey Peterson Zachary G. Heng Kristen L. Henkel Troy Mahler Bill & Christina Sydnor Josh Kuhbander Mike Yaworsky Gregory G. Harris Jim Jeffords Jeremy Matyjaszek Phil Grimes Eric Chastain Patrick Allen Melvin Tointigh David & Peggy Browning Ricky D. Raleigh, Jr. Dennis E. Stange Brandt R. Carr Jeremy Baharloui Richard Duafala Brian Ward Kevin W. Payne Timothy Brock Courtney C. Miles Cheryl Graganella University Inn & Suites

WARRIOR

Harold M. Knowles Belinda M. Keiser Michael Whelan David & Terri Davidson Curt Craig Charles C. Townsend Charles & Sandra McClure Blair C. Lee Richard Albertson Marco J. Prieto

William & Norma English Michael A. Crowley, M.D. Scott R. Dumper Scott Remington Anthony W. Pumphrey Lori D. Kennedy Traci Buzbee Sam & Cynthia Francis Jay & Brea Gelin Jason & Candice Scott Braden Prickett Robert H. Harrington, III Christopher Schoonover Andrew Williams Ross P. Duenas Eric Edwards Chris & Carie Houp Evan Hollander Stephen M. Lancaster, Jr. Zev M. Bishop Tom Conroy Kevin M. Cruz Duane Hennarichs Daniel Fernandez Ronald D. Trout Brenna & Chris Hewett Meredith Tharpe Kevin & Gladys Terry Randy Smith Philip Villeneuve Andrew Chadick Ken Nichols Doug Berry & Tanya German The Price Family Dominic Hebert Walt Bower Debbie Mayfield Eric B. Lieberman Kirk Jirak Benjamin D. Shivar Michael Boden Richard Boykin Travis V. Register Kevin Berry Steven Bryan Shawn Smallwood Jeff Pankau Damian Arfaras Jon Bristow Bill Coit Robert R. Dendy Curtis A. Pennington John Napolitano Leslie Carraway Allison Coit Kelly Tutterow Christopher Cooksey Joseph Mudrick Lindsay M. Momyer Elae Enterprises

RENEGADE

William E. Beye Connie L. Stuart James & Ronda Davidson Anne Hamilton James & Diana Croft David K. Hall Howard DuBosar Patrick M. Hill Leigh Ann Mills Earle Lee Jr. Paul & Deborah Lokie Todd Vernon Jason H. Driver Sean Campbell Roy D. McDonald, Jr. Jeremy & Yvonne Frye Richard & Kimberly Reddington Christopher L. Snyder John M. Moseley William Joy Garrett J. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor Dennis Scully Kim Swantek-Jaggars Laura T. Marsh Sharon & Donald Richardson Tonya Harper Paige A. Redd

Chris & Betsy Miller Robert Kisiel James & Tina Guida Boyd Laffitte Michael Geren Matthew Davis Shan DiGuglielmo Charles Wells Michael Borgia Matthew Gaetz, II Nationwide Payment Solutions, David Wishnia Ian Boger Adam Peppler Gail S. Baker Stephanie Cross Daniel M. Olson Erin Efstathion Mary Lynn Tronu Clifton S. Thorne

Kathy G. Crump Timothy J. Beaulieu Steven Hendrix Jeanne Depue Mike Everage Floyd L. Friend Andrew Camarata John & Carol DeLoach Randall & Maria Roberts Charles McClure Rebecca A. Franklin Chuck McLaughlin Anthony Perez Charles Hand Ryan Jarman

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2009 Quarterly Report

FSU AT H L E T I C S

QUARTERLY

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Quarterly Report 2009

Women’s sports shine as the fall season wraps and winter disciplines heat up

volleyball

Poole leads FSU to first Elite 8 Tournament appearance

PHOTOS BY mike olivella, ross obley & fsu sports info

A

s Florida State has worked to develop a successful and comprehensive men’s and women’s athletics program, the one missing ingredient seemed to be a nationally respected volleyball team.

That is no longer the case.

In his second season as FSU’s head coach, Chris Poole has helped his players reach their full potential and blossom into the Atlantic Coast Conference Champions. The Seminoles narrowly missed out on an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008, but they advanced to the Elite 8 in 2009.

After the first few weeks of conference play, the Seminoles were tied for first place in the ACC and actually boasted the top overall record of any team in the conference. That is quite an accomplishment for a team that made its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002. But it also is not unexpected, given Poole’s resume.

When FSU Athletics Director Randy Spetman hired Poole away from Arkansas, where Poole started in 1994, the Seminoles landed a coach who knows a great deal about building successful programs.

During his 21 seasons before coming to Tallahassee, Poole led three different teams — Arkansas, Arkansas State and Arkansas Tech — to a combined record of 550-230. His Arkansas teams won their division of the Southeastern Conference 11 times and the Razorbacks made nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

A trademark of Poole’s teams is that he prefers a balanced offensive attack, and the 2009 Seminoles embody that approach.

Near the midway point of the season, Florida State led the ACC in kills, but no FSU players were ranked in the top 10 individually.

Six different Seminoles were registering between 1.8 and 2.8 kills per set. That list included seniors Mira Djuric, Brianna Barry and Jordana Price, junior Stephanie Neville, sophomore Rachael Morgan and freshman Fatma Yildirim.

Powered largely by that group, the Seminoles were honored to receive their highest national ranking since 1993 when they were ranked No. 17 earlier this season.

“I’m very proud of the girls, and my staff is doing an excellent job in helping get this program turned around,” Poole said.

“It takes more than a few players to build a program. It takes an entire staff and a full squad to meet the demands of training and preparing every day.”

For the first time in history, FSU volleyball won the ACC Championship and advanced to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA tournament and actually boasted the top overall record of any team in the conference.

The American Volleyball Coaches Association honored head coach Chris Poole, seniors Brianna Barry, Jordan Price and Mira Djuric, and sophomore Rachael Morgan with 2009 honors. All four student-athletes also earned All-ACC honors and coach Poole was named ACC Coach of the Year.

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2009 Quarterly Report

Brag Points for Academic Awards 2008–09 Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle is the second student-athlete in the last three years Academic All-Americans six student-athletes ACC Scholar Athlete of the year three in Track ACC Post Graduate Scholars three won $5,000 award Jim McKay Post Graduate Scholarship Women’s Tennis Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award six student-athletes in Golf, Tennis and Track All-ACC Academic Team 61 student-athletes ACC Honor Roll 175 student-athletes President’s List 17 student-athletes Dean’s List 139 student-athletes 41% of all student-athletes with a GPA above 3.0 10 teams with a GPA above 3.0

Senior Becky Edwards and Sophomore Tiffany McCarty were named semifinalist for the 2009 MAC Hermann trophy, awarded to the national Player of the Year. The Award will be announced at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Lois on Friday, January 8, 2010. Toni Pressley, pictured above, was one of five Seminoles honored by the NSCAA in 2009.

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Soccer

10 straight NCAA tournament appearances for FSU FSU soccer coach Mark Krikorian believed he would have a potent striker tandem at the front of the Seminoles’ attack.

And the veteran head coach certainly wasn’t disappointed.

Sophomore forwards Tiffany McCarty and Jessica Price were electric at times this season, helping Florida State make it to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Championship game. FSU advanced to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA tournament after earning a No. 1 national seed and hosting the first three rounds.

“Our kids up front are dangerous,” Krikorian said. “They have a lot of different dimensions to their game, and it shows.”

One of the dimensions that makes the

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duo so difficult to defend is their speed.

They are usually faster than any opponent’s back line. And, even when foes can keep up, McCarty and Price have such great skill that they still can place the ball in the net.

Krikorian also has praised his budding offensive stars for working well together.

If they aren’t scoring goals themselves, they often are creating opportunities for each other and their teammates.

“I think it took awhile to get used to each other, but now we know how each other plays,” Price said. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

Quarterly Report 2009

Aquatics

Swimming, diving teams continue to build As the 2009-10 season got under way in October, the momentum continued to build for Florida State’s swimming and diving programs.

The Seminoles got things rolling at the end of last season, with the men’s team taking second place and the women’s squad finishing fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. FSU then sent a school-record 10 swimmers and two divers to the men’s NCAA Championships in March. And this past summer, FSU head coach Neil Harper was proud to help host the 2009 U.S. Summer National Diving Championships at the Morcom Aquatic Center.

The event gave Florida State a chance to showcase the university’s state-of-theart, $10.5 million facility, which opened just last year. The meet also had a Seminole flair, as rising senior Terry Horner was one of the top performers.

Horner, one of the top divers in the world, took second place in the 1-meter springboard after a nip-and-tuck battle with two-time Olympian Troy Dumais. Rising FSU senior Aleia Monden represented the women’s diving team in the event.

With several key performers returning from last season and a pair of highly regarded recruiting classes coming in, the men’s and women’s teams should ride that momentum into a strong season.

The men’s team expects to see immediate dividends from the transfer of Landon Marzullo, who was a two-time All-American at Indiana University. And it doesn’t appear the Seminoles will have to wait long. Marzullo won two events in FSU’s first meet of the year and several other newcomers impressed as well.

“I thought the freshmen kids did well,” Harper said. “They’ve been really going hard at practice. They did a really nice job of competing. A couple of them stepped up and won.”

The women’s team likely will be led by sophomore Stephanie Sarandos, who is coming off an appearance in last year’s NCAA Championships.

Academic All-Stars Student Athlete Accolades Caroline Westrup has been named an Academic All-America winner for the fourth time and is the only person to have done that in her sport.

Susan Kuijken and Javier Garcia-Tunon were recently named ACC Scholar Athletes of the Year.

USTFCCCA Outdoor Scholar Athlete of the Year — Kimberly Williams USTFCCCA Women’s All-Academic Track and Field Team — Lydia Willemse, Keyla Smith and Kimberly Williams USTFCCCA Men’s All-Academic Track And Field Team — Javier Garcia-Tunon, Gonzalo Barroilhet, Bryan Howard, Matt Leeder and Travis Whitfield

ACC All-Academic Team 2009 Baseball — Tyler Holt, Tommy Oravetz Women’s Golf — Macarena Silva, Whitney Wenglasz, Caroline Westrup Softball — Terese Gober, Sarah Hamilton, Kristie McConn, Kaleigh Rafter, Michelle Snyder, Carly Winn Women’s Tennis — Katie Rybakova, Ania Rynarzewska, Noemie Scharle Men’s Tennis — Drew Bailey, Vahid Mirzadeh Women’s Track — Allyn Laughlin, Susan Kuijken, Pilar McShine, Lizbeth Mabry, Amanda Quick, Keyla Smith, Lydia Willemse, Kim Williams Men’s Track — Jonathan Borlee, Kevin Borlee, Javier Garcia-Tunon, Bryan Howard, Andrew Jacobs, Matt Leader, Timothy Reen, Aaron Steele, Matt Wernke, Travis Whitfield

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2009 Quarterly Report

Cross Country

Kuijken, FSU finish second in 2009 Following up a third-place finish at last year’s National Championships, Florida State’s women’s cross country team finished 2nd at the NCAA Tournament in 2009. The Seminoles were ranked No. 3 in one preseason poll, and Track & Field News projected senior Susan Kuijken as the likely winner of this year’s individual title.

The Dutch-born runner placed third as a sophomore and second last season and this year, earning her fourth consecutive NCAA All-American honors.

And Kuijken has plenty of support from a deep and talented team.

Teammate Pilar McShine finished 22nd at last year’s national championships and is a co-captain of this year’s squad. McShine started this season strong with a second-place finish in a meet at Virginia Tech. Not far behind, in third place, was newcomer Pasca Cheruiyot, who transferred this season from Missouri State.

The Seminoles also celebrated the opening of their new home course at Apalachee Regional Park by rolling to an impressive second-place performance in October’s FSU Invitational. Sophomore Jennifer Dunn took first place in a field of 69 runners, and two other FSU runners finished in the top 10 — Christina Woytalewicz (fifth) and Kacey Gibson (seventh).

Florida State’s men’s team eaerned a top 20 ranking at the end of 2009. Senior Daniel Roberts earned All-ACC status while teammate Wes Rickman earned ACC Freshmen of the Year.

FSU’s strong returners welcomed highly regarded transfer Ciaran O’Lionaird from Michigan, who earned points at this year’s championships. SB

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Don Yaeger, from page 18

their college eligibility had expired. The players were dismissed prior to the bowl game, which FSU won 36-19.

Jones’ team wasn’t any better the following season, in 1965. The Sooners went 3–7, Oklahoma’s worst record, percentage wise, since it went 0–1 its inaugural season in 1895.

This brought the Jones era to a quick close at 9-11-1, although he did remain at Oklahoma as the athletic director — a role he also held when he was head coach.

Oklahoma’s luck wasn’t much better following Jones. The school brought in a young, promising coach from the University of Arkansas named Jim Mackenzie. His 1966 team went 6-4, including its first victory over Texas in nearly a decade, and showed promise. But in the spring of 1967, at the age of 37, Mackenzie died of a heart attack.

It wasn’t until Chuck Fairbanks, promoted to head coach following Mackenzie’s death, that the program returned to the form that Wilkinson had set. Of course it also reached dynasty status under Barry Switzer, who led the Sooners to a 54-3-1 record from 1971-75 and captured consecutive national titles in ’74 and ’75.

When talking dynasties, Notre Dame is always in the conversation.

The coveted program has won 11 national titles (though some credit the school with 13) dating back to 1924.

Naturally, Irish folklore begins with Knute Rockne, who became head coach in 1918.

Under Rockne, the Irish went 105-12-5 and won six national titles, had five undefeated seasons and produced players such as the “Four Horsemen.”

Rockne, whose life was tragically cut short when he died in a plane crash in 1931, has the highest win percentage (.881) in college football history.

Notre Dame football has had plenty of coaching heroes.

From 1946-49, for instance, coach Frank Leahy’s Fighting Irish won three national championships and never trailed over four years. The only blemishes are two ties with Army in 1946 and USC in 1948.

The departure of Leahy ushered in a downward slope in Notre Dame’s performance

that wasn’t recaptured until Ara Parseghian arrived in 1964. In fact, Parseghian brought the team back to a level of success comparable only to Rockne and Leahy in Irish football history. During his 11-year career, the Irish amassed a record of 95–17–4 and captured two uncontested national championships.

Following Parseghian’s departure after the 1974 season, the Irish had four head coaches and only Lou Holtz enjoyed the success to which Irish fans are accustomed, winning 100 games and a national championship (the school’s last) in 1988.

Current head coach Charlie Weis, a Notre Dame alum and former NFL assistant who helped the New England Patriots win three Super Bowls, was widely quoted as telling his team his first season in 2005 it would have a “decided schematic advantage” against opponents.

This statement was apparently made in the belief that his schemes and strategies developed in the NFL were superior to the schemes being run by other college coaches.

A 9-15 overall record in 2007 and 2008 have put Weis under tremendous pressure from boosters to win this year, especially since the head coach signed a 10-year contract extension, which began in 2006 and is reportedly worth $30 to 40 million.

When talking dynasty greatness, let’s not forget the Bear.

From 1977 to 1980, in the twilight of Bear Bryant’s career, the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach produced one last run of dominance, winning national titles in 1978 and 1979 — the first coming on a famous goal-line stand against Penn State in the Sugar Bowl — and finishing No. 2 in 1977.

Technically, the Bear had to follow in his own footsteps.

From 1961 to 1966, Bryant’s teams won three national titles, went undefeated in ’66 and amassed a 60-5-1 record over the sixyear span. Bryant produced stars such as quarterback Joe Namath, center Lee Roy Jordan and lineman Billy Neighors.

Since the Bear, Alabama has produced just one national title (1992 under Gene Stallings) and survived an embarrassing scandal involving Mike Price, hired away

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from Washington State in 2002. In May 2003, Price was removed as head coach for behavior unbecoming a representative of the University of Alabama.

Closer to home in Florida, the Miami Hurricanes overcame humble beginnings to become one of the most successful football programs of the last quarter century. They won five national championships with that span: 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001.

From 1986 to 1992, UM won three national titles and played for two others over a seven-year span, and quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde and Gino Torretta each captured Heisman trophies.

Referred to as “The U,” the Hurricanes have struggled to regain their national prominence since winning the program’s last national title in 2001.

The 2006 season, for example, included an on-field brawl against Florida International, the shooting death of defensive tackle Bryan Pata, and a four game, late-season losing streak. Only a Thanksgiving night victory over Boston College in their last game of the season saved the Hurricanes from a losing record.

Head coach Larry Coker was fired and replaced by defensive coordinator Randy Shannon. Shannon’s first year as UM head coach was one of the worst in the Hurricanes’ modern history, with the team registering a losing 5-7 record in 2007.

Under Shannon, the team failed to reach a bowl game for the first time in a decade, and it was the first non-penalized full-scholarship team to miss a bowl game in more than 25 years.

Each of these chapters in the book of sports dynasties had an end … and each had to fight to find a new beginning. The challenge, as John Wooden said, “is having the patience to keep doing the right things until your program gets back to where you want it.” SB

Don Yaeger is a Four-time New York Times Best-selling author, longtime Associate Editor at Sports Illustrated and nationally recognized motivational speaker. Read more at www. donyaeger.com.

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New Members, from page 74

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ALSO INSIDE: High Hopes for FSU Hoops // Seminoles enjoy historic ncaa tournament success