Halfway through. While there’s still plenty of football left to be played, and we might only be get-ting a glimpse of what the college football landscape could look like come December, but there are plenty of stories to keep an eye on midway through the college football season.

At the time the of the first BCS Standings, 12 unbeaten teams stand above the rest of the nation, and several one-loss teams remain in the hunt for a national cham-pionship. However, the teams still able to dub themselves national title contenders have reached the class of elite in very different ways.

On one hand you have the defensive stalwarts of the SEC.

Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and LSU all sport top-13 defenses, yet the entire conference has just one quarterback (AJ McCarron of Alabama) in the top-15 of passer efficiency. They earn their stripes grinding it out in the trenches, terrorizing opposing quarterbacks and daring their opponents to take it up the middle.

Notre Dame is another such team, sitting 6-0 at the midway point. The Fighting Irish haven’t allowed a single rushing touchdown all season behind the stellar play and leadership of linebacker Manti Te’o. And still, while the team has found some consistency on offense in their run game, they rank 76th in the nation in total offense.

Then you have the Big 12, the conference that five of the nation’s top nine passers call home and teams are scoring an average of 38.7 points per game(that number jumps to 42.8 if you take Kansas and Iowa State out of the equa-tion). Yet, the six ranked teams in the conference not named Kansas State have surrendered a total of 313 points in just eight combined losses. Johnny “Football” Manziel has led Texas A&M to a 5-1 record in its first SEC season, but the Aggies still show some ties to their former conference, sporting the nation’s fifth-ranked scoring offense that needed every bit of 59 points to down WAC-darling and BCS hopeful Louisiana Tech in week seven.

Pac-12 frontrunner Oregon is beating opponents by an average margin of 27.8 points per game, but has allowed at least 21 in all but two games this season. The trend continues throughout col-lege football, with more and more teams choosing to either field a stellar defense or light up the scoreboard.

Florida State might be the most complete team in college football (third in the na-tion in both total offense

OCT/NOV 2012

Halfway There: The College Football Picture By Ryan Trapp

Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance Goes PinkBy Noah SharfmanPink. You’ll see it take over the National Football League during the month of October. It’s every-where; from the players, to the coaches and the field itself. For the last four seasons, the NFL has gone pink in support of breast cancer awareness month. Like their heroes who play on Sundays, the kids of the Orange Bowl Youth Football Alli-ance (Orange Bowl YFA) presented by Sports Au-thority rocked the color each Saturday throughout the month of October.

Throughout the leagues, players, coaches, cheer-leaders and yes even the fields, undergo a make-over in support of breast cancer awareness month during October. Just like the pros, you can find players wearing pink socks, shoelaces, sweatbands, helmet decals and much, much more.

“With October being breast cancer awareness month, we are all supporting it by wearing pink to show that we are aware of the cause,” Miami Lakes Jaguars (Miami Xtreme Youth Football League) team mom Tinika Solo-mon said. “We’ve ordered pink gear for our teams; we have the socks,

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Midway through the season, we have a better idea of who could be hoisting the championship trophy in January, but there’s still a lof of work to do.

Orange Bowl YFA wears pink for breast cancer awareness.

Hayley: How did you get involved in the Orange Bowl Committee?Al :My high school was actually asking for volunteers to be a part of the Orange Bowl Parade, and that was my first direct engagement with the Orange Bowl Festival, I had only had the pleasure of watching the games up until that point on television. When I then went off to college, my father actually became involved in the Orange Bowl Com-mittee, became a member, and I got to see through his eyes and through his experiences what it’s like to be a member of this committee.

What are you memories of being a Past President?As a Past President, I’m very proud to have served not only on the com-mittee, but in a role of leadership. During my year as president, it was very busy. We had a lot going on, and as president you get a chance to meet a lot of great people. You miss the smiling faces when you men-tion you’re with the Orange Bowl Committee, the warm embraces when you walk around with an

orange jacket – a jacket I can tell you I didn’t think I looked good in initially – but it does stand out and it represents something very special.

What is your role as Chairman of the Football Committee?As chairman of the Football Com-mittee it’s like being redrafted all over again. As many people know, postseason college football is going to have a new face on it for 12 years starting in season 2014-15. And I’ve been a part of, on behalf of the Or-ange Bowl Committee, making sure that we as the Orange Bowl main-tain our prominence in postseason college football. Making sure that our members, who have developed great relationships over the years, have the opportunity to share with those persons who are involved with this process why the Orange Bowl should remain a part of postseason college football.

What is the Football Committee’s role during the college football season?The Football Committee goes out and represents the Orange Bowl at

games across the country. We are the ambassadors at games: meeting the coaches, meet-ing the athletic directors, sharing with them what the Orange Bowl has to offer, and making sure they know that should they be selected to be a part of our game, they will be hosted like they’ve never been hosted before.

What impact will double-hosting have on the economy in South Florida?When we started this committee over 75 years ago, it was started with a view towards increasing tourism and economic development in South Florida. When you double-host, when you have two postseason col-lege football games, one of which is the traditional Orange Bowl and the other is the National Championship, all eyes are on South Florida for that two week period of time. The fans travel in, our guests travel in, the schools travel in and you just have more and more people coming to see South Florida and investing their tourism dollars into our economy. This year, this time around, not only will those guests thoroughly enjoy their experience, but all of us who

live in South Florida will see the Orange Bowl everywhere and we can all be proud.

Committee Corner: Al Dotson Jr. Meeting with the Chairman of the Orange Bowl Football CommitteeBy Hayley Salyer

Past President Peter Pruitt Jr. installs Al Dotson Jr. as President in 2006.

Al Dotson Sr. and Al Dotson Jr. cozy up to OBIE.

Golf legend Arnold Palmer, boxing great Muhammad Ali, Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and Al Dotson Jr. at the 2007 Orange Bowl.

PAGE 8 | INSIDE THE ORANGE BOWL OCT/NOV 2012

“You miss the smiling faces when you mention you’re with the Orange Bowl Committee, the warm embraces when you walk around with an orange jacket.”

~Al Dotson Jr.

shoelaces, wristbands, under eye paint, the decals on the back of the helmets and mouth pieces.”

The support of breast cancer awareness month in the Orange Bowl YFA presented by Sports Authority is not a recent development. Support of breast cancer awareness month dates back to the 2005 season in the Orange Bowl YFA. On a yearly basis, all nine member leagues of the Orange Bowl YFA presented by Sports Author-ity currently don pink to show their support of breast cancer awareness.

“We want our boys to be aware that (breast can-cer) is a problem,” Solomon said. “The kids get to look at the NFL players and see that they are supporting the cause as well.” For several leagues around the Orange Bowl YFA presented by Sports Authority, support of breast cancer awareness month goes beyond just wear-ing pink during games. The West Boca Tackle Football League helps raise money to assist unin-sured women to receive screenings and checkups. The West Boca Tackle Football League is in its third season of supporting breast cancer aware-ness month and this year has increased its goal to $10,000 to benefit the Boca Regional Medical Center.

Wearing pink gear on the fields has become a point of pride for many youth football players in the Orange Bowl YFA presented by Sports Authority. The West Boynton Youth Football League was selected by the Miami Dolphins as their team of the week in support of breast cancer aware-ness. The West Boynton players took their pink to the NFL gridiron, taking part in the Dolphins’ national anthem celebration during their week six matchup against the St. Louis Rams.

For kids ages 5-15, one might think that wearing pink could present some ‘coolness’ issues. But the just the opposite has been the case.

OBYFA Goes PinkContinued from Page 1

2012 Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance Sponsors

“A lot of the kids (in our leagues) have aunts, or grandmothers, sisters or somebody who has been affected by breast cancer so the kids were actually excited to wear pink in support,” Solomon said. “We even got our coaches shirts that say ‘real men wear pink,’ so even the coaches get to be a part of it.”

The Opa Locka Hurricanes (National Youth Football League) observed breast cancer aware-ness month by not only sporting pink gear and accessories, but honoring the people affected by the illness. On Saturday, October 13, the Hurri-canes honored those individuals who have fought breast cancer with an on-field presentation. In addition to recognizing the individuals who courageously tackle breast cancer, the Opa Locka Hurricanes annually participate in a breast cancer walk to raise awareness.

The Orange Bowl YFA is presented by Sports Au-thority. Currently in its 14th season, the Orange Bowl has invested approximately $5 million and countless volunteer hours in youth sports across South Florida since 1999. Along with Orange Bowl YFA presenting sponsor Sports Authority, additional sponsors include American Airlines, Doctors Hospital, Florida Blue, Frito-Lay, FOX Sports Florida / Sun Sports, Hampton Farms, Marathon Petroleum, Urbieta Oil Co., MetroPCS, Nike, POWERADE, Sparkling ICE, Sun Life Stadium & The Miami Dolphins, The Miami Herald, Toyota and Wells Fargo.

The Suniland Sundevils show their support for breast cancer awareness.

OBIE with some pink supporters at a Western Communities Youth Football game.

INSIDE THE ORANGE BOWL | PAGE 10 OCT/NOV 2012

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