Bowl fever is spreading fast
Members of the True Blue student pep club board a bus on Friday for the MAC Championship game in Detroit. Photo: SUE WUETCHER
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“I’m one who truly believes in the importance of college athletics—and I really believe that this is a way that we as a university can start to come together as a group.”
With the UB Bulls’ stunning 42-24 victory over the Ball State Cardinals on Friday for the Mid American Conference Championship, UB football fever is spreading fast across campus—infecting faculty, staff and students alike in anticipation of the team’s first-ever bowl game on Jan. 3.
Among those planning to travel north for the Bulls’ matchup against the UConn Huskies at the International Bowl in Toronto is Judith Adams-Volpe, director of communications and development for the UB Libraries, and her husband, Raymond Volpe, program director for UB Micro IT Support Services.
“I’m so thrilled that this is happening in our lifetime,” says Adams-Volpe of the Bulls’ unprecedented success this season. “It’s like a dream. I’m so full of joy for the team—they’ve just played beyond what anyone expected.”
Adams-Volpe was in the stands for the game in Detroit Friday night, and says watching the Bulls trounce an undefeated opponent alongside a busload of die-hard fans was an experience she will not soon forget.
“We loyal fans all felt that we were a little part of the team’s glorious victory,” she says. “After the goal-line fumble and UB’s 92-yard return for a touchdown, a child sitting in from of me turned to me and said, ‘This is the best night of my life.’”
Leading the Bulls fans in Toronto will be President John B. Simpson, whose call for the university to invest in excellence has focused on making UB a major national competitor in the athletic arena as well as in the classroom and research laboratory.
“I am looking forward to Jan. 3 and UB’s first trip to a bowl game—50 years after one of the proudest moments in UB history, when our 1958 team turned down our only other bowl bid because of discrimination against the African-American members on that team,” Simpson said. “As we celebrate a new milestone for UB this year, Bulls fans everywhere have a lot to cheer about.”
William Hepfer, associate librarian and another longtime Bulls fan, has been following the team’s fortunes since joining the university in 1983.
“This past season was simply unimaginable four years ago,” says Hepfer. “I not only got to see some thrilling home games, but several away games on TV that made this year even more exciting…I'm delighted that my optimism has finally been rewarded big time.”
Gayle Brazeau, associate dean for academic affairs, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, was among those watching Friday night’s televised game with bated breath.
“You could not believe how excited I was,” she says. “It brought tears to my eyes, and I just couldn’t stop smiling for days. I’m one who truly believes in the importance of college athletics—and I really believe that this is a way that we as a university can start to come together as a group.”
She and a number of colleagues—pharmacy faculty and others from outside her school—also are planning to travel to Toronto for the bowl game on Jan. 3.
And many UB students are excitedly cheering their team on to victory as well.
“I like the feeling of having a winning team,” says Dana Munn, a freshman pharmacy major, who’s gone to several home games this season in UB Stadium, and tuned into Friday night’s matchup against Ball State on ESPN2 during a late-night study session with friends in her residence hall.
“My brothers both went to UB and so I knew [the Bulls’] previous record—and that they’re getting better and better,” she says. “It’s just great to have a team you can be proud of.”
Michael Hurst and Philip Manez, both industrial engineering and business administration majors, say they’re also planning to make the trip to Toronto. In fact, Hurst says they’re banking on spending Friday night in Canada in order to be among the first tailgaters at the Rogers Centre on Saturday morning. The International Bowl kicks off at noon.
“We’ve both been here for five years,” says Manez, “and I was just saying that in a way this [win] almost completes the UB experience for us.”
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