THE University's Friday notes

A final note on the Olympics, Gold medal count at 2008 Beijing Olympics:
1. China 51
2. United States 36
3. Russia 23
4. Great Britain 19
5. Germany 16
6. Australia 14
7. South Korea 13
8. University of Texas 10
9. Japan 9
10. Italy 8
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The Florida Atlantic Owls

Florida Atlantic University is a public university located in Boca Raton. That means, of course, Rat's Mouth. One might think that would be enough, but no, let's explore more...

"When it opened its doors in 1964, FAU was the first university in the country to offer only upper-division and graduate-level work. This model was based on the theory that freshmen and sophomores would be served by the community college system. In 1984, the University responded to population growth and the need to provide increased access to higher education by admitting its first freshmen class.

Today, FAU's seven partner campuses serve 26,000 students through more than 170 degree programs." (Nice. A four-year school for 24 years now)

In 1962, "The Board of Control selects Florida Atlantic University as the name of the new university. Rejected names include Bryant State University (to honor Governor Bryant), Sunshine State University and A-OK University (a reference to a catch-phrase used by U.S. astronauts, who were then based at Cape Canaveral, Florida, about 150 miles north of Boca Raton)."

Golly. How awesome would that have been - "A-OK University?" I wonder if the Sooners would have been pissed. You know, "Oklahoma is OK." Give the Board of Control credit. Florida Atlantic is way f*ucking better than the other names they considered.

The FAU website (from whence all this fascinating information sourced), on their historical timeline page, has 5 bullet points for 1965. One of them is, and I could not make this up "The cafeteria opens." Yup, that is a milestone if I ever heard one. Just think how proud they must have been to have a cafeteria?

In 1971, the Boca Raton campus became a "burrowing owl sanctuary". Gross?

And in 1999, the FAU Board of Regents authorized establishment of a football program, and that very year Howard Schnellenberger was hired to start the FAU football program. (Oh, the excitement.)

In 2001, the Fighting Owls play their first football game, losing to Slippery Rock University (yes, our Slippery Rock) by the score of 40-7.

Schnellenberger, Slippery Rock … one begins to see the one degree of separation. We will come back to ol Howie....

For the rest of this, The Captain sourced most of it from a friend's email, although, all sarcasm belongs to me:

First, a look at FAU traditions (all those "traditions" which they have established with 7 years of football under their belts).

Burrowing Owls

"A Burrowing Owl is a small ground-dwelling Owl with a round head and no ear tuffs. They have white eyebrows, yellow eyes and long legs. The Owl is sandy coloured on the head, back and upper parts of the wings. Burrowing Owls are easy to see because they are often active in daylight, and are bold and approachable. The females are usually darker than the males. The main call of a Burrowing Owl is mainly given by the adult males when near the burrow to attract a female. A who-who is given at the entrance of a promising burrow. This call is also associated with breeding and territory defense. They also make other sounds, which are described as chuck, chatter and scream. These sounds are usually accompanied by a bobbing of the head up and down. Burrowing Owls feed on a variety of prey. They feed on things such as beetles, grasshoppers, small mammals, especially mice, rats and ground squirrels. They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many natural enemies, including snakes, cats and dogs (maybe Longhorns?). They are listed as an endangered species.

The FAU campus was designated a burrowing owl sanctuary in 1971 by the Audubon Society. The Owl came here because there are not many predators, other than cats, near an airport. The feisty bird, traditionally associated with wisdom and determination, serves as the University’s mascot."

The only other tradition is, apparently, the "Shula Bowl" where FAU plays Florida International each year. A big big rivalry for South Florida bragging rights. Woo hoo! I bet that is tough ticket.

(also from my friend's email:)"I will give Howard Schnellenberger ("HS", for short. I'm already sick of typing Schnellenberger) some credit. He has built a pretty decent little program from nothing. They won the Sun Belt Conference last year.

FAU has played 83 football games in its entire history. To put that in perspective, Texas has beaten the aggies 73 times, Baylor 71 times, OU 57 times, Rice 68 times, and TCU 61 times.
Here is a tradition not on their website: FAU is 0-7 versus the spread as a road underdog of 21 or more points. Now that is a tradition I would like to see continue! (the line right now is somewhere between 23 and 24)."

OBVS The Captain has no idea on spreads... HOOK 'EM!