Miami, Florida - It was the kind of experience that one would never forget, especially if you're fans of the Hurricanes and Dolphins. Bahamasair, in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism and The Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board, put on an exciting football tailgate extravaganza this past weekend that was enjoyed by all. The experience started on Saturday with the University of Miami (UM) Hurricanes hosting the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, and continued on Sunday with the Miami Dolphins playing their National Football League (NFL) home opener against the Oakland Raiders.
Miami won both games, but for some of the Bahamian fans in attendance, the best part of the weekend was the joy they got from socializing with their fellow countrymen in a foreign country. Richard Treco said that it was "a truly wonderful experience", and he's looking forward to engaging in much more tailgating parties in the future. "A lot of Bahamians are fans of the Hurricanes and Dolphins so to bring all of them together for a social outing is a wonderful thing," he said.
"Hopefully more people would come on board and be a part of what's going on here." Bradley Bosfield said that the response of Bahamians to the event this past weekend was tremendous. "Bahamians have come out in full force. I think what you would see is that the fan base of the Hurricanes and Dolphins have a huge Bahamian following and that was shown this weekend. It can only get bigger and better from here," he said.
Woodrow Wilson, senior manager for international sales for Bahamasair Holdings Ltd., said the same special promotion might not be offered for every home game this season, but it is certainly something that they are looking at doing on a continuous basis, if only for the first home game each year. He said that with the Hurricanes and Dolphins both winning, to go along with the two magnificent tailgate parties, it sets the tone for the remainder of the year. As for the tailgate party itself, the menu included grilled conch, fish and lobster along with conch salad and conch fritters.
Tailgaters were able to wash all of that down with ice cold Kalik beers, Sands beers, coconut water and sodas. Overall, about 100 Bahamians took advantage of the special promotion and flown down to South Florida this past weekend. The promotion might not be offered for each home game, but the tailgating will continue. In addition to that, two more Bahamian tailgating parties were spotted on Sunday.
It's safe to say that most of the Bahamians who engaged in the sports weekend were football fans of the 'Canes and Dolphins. However, one of the exceptions was radio personality Naughty from Hot 91.7 FM, who lost a friendly wager and had to wear Dolphins apparel after the game. Naughty is a stout Cowboys supporter and despises the Dolphins. To add salt to the wound of the Dolphins victory, his Cowboys were slaughtered on Sunday. "My name is man and I live up to all my bets," said Naughty.
"I will put on the Dolphins colors but this doesn't take away from the fact that the Dolphins suck. However, it was a great trip and I had a ball. Everyone I spoke to had a blast." If the Dolphins are terrible, I guess the Cowboys are even worse after being completely trounced by the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Anyway, as he mentioned, everyone enjoyed the event that was jointly staged by Bahamasair and the Ministry of Tourism this past weekend. It was truly spectacular.
As for the game on Sunday, the Dolphins used a second half surge to steamroll the Raiders, 35-13. Reggie Bush had 197 total yards from scrimmage, 172 on the ground. Rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who threw for 200 yards, ran in from two yards out on the Dolphins' first drive of the game, and then passed for his first touchdown of his career as he found tight end Anthony Fasano for a 14-yard score in the fourth quarter. Dolphins' receiver Brian Hartline had a breakout game as he caught nine passes for 111 yards, both career highs.
Overall, the Dolphins ran for 263 yards on Sunday, and held the Raiders' highly touted running game to just 23 total yards on the ground. Carson Palmer threw for 373 yards for the Raiders on 24-of-48 passing. In Saturday's college game, the University of Miami (UM) Hurricanes finally unleashed the Duke, as the freshman running back scored three different ways and four times in total, in leading UM to an impressive 38-10 drubbing of the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
Duke Johnson carried the ball 14 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 15-yard screen play for a touchdown, and returned a kickoff 95 yards for another touchdown. Stephen Morris passed for 211 yards, one touchdown and suffered one pick. He completed 20-of-35 passes. Mike James helped Johnson on the ground, as he rumbled for 77 yards on just nine carries. The 'Canes took a 17-7 lead into the half, and never looked back as they coasted to the easy win. For Bethune-Cookman, Rodney Scott rushed for 72 yards on just 14 carries and Isidore Jackson rumbled for 66 yards on 13 carries. Freshman quarterback Quentin Williams passed for just 69 yards, completing five of nine attempts.
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