“In the Air Tonight,” a Phil Collins favorite, returned to the Orange Bowl Saturday night, but the classic Hurricane football team did not.
An abysmal game. An immensely disappointing farewell.
There was no memorable tribute. There was no honorable athletic performance.
Thousands of students came psyched for the Canes’ final Orange Bowl game, hoping to bid the old structure farewell and perhaps witness an upset over Virginia.
Failure on both counts.
Success, it seems, came only before the game began.
Spirit overflowing from the Metrorail. Celebration in tailgating lots. Enthusiasm pulsing through the stands.
Hundreds of seniors clad in black, as if attending a funeral, strolled around the famed field prior to kickoff. They screamed and cheered and jumped and shouted.
For what?
The football team couldn’t score. The halftime show was a nice tribute to the players, but was altogether forgettable.
Students booed President Shalala as she was praised over the loudspeaker. What a great farewell.
The cognitive dissonance permeated like the haze from the fireworks.
Playing “We Are the Champions” at halftime? Announcing, “Tonight’s win over Virginia,” in the postgame tribute?
Ah, yes. The postgame. It was rousing for a while, but the monotonous laser show grew stale after a few songs.
Thank (insert chosen deity here) they played “In the Air Tonight.”
But could we feel it? Not for long after the game commenced.
Randy Shannon should have given the former players jerseys as they ascended the center stage. Maybe we would have scored.
After the game, students’ faces looked longer than the field did for Kyle Wright.
They were dejected, destroyed, defeated. Their beloved Hurricanes were massacred by a cadre of Cavaliers.
Slashed and burned. Up in smoke. Conquered.
It wasn’t a field worth rushing Saturday night.
At least students got their shirts and their posters. Props to Category 5 for their work. They should be commended. They should have planned the halftime and postgame.
Too late.
Too late for the gala events. Too late for the Canes. Too late for the Orange Bowl.
The orange was puréed, but the juice was not sweet.
The end was sour.
Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.