Kirijax
Senior
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2012
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Was skimming around Canes stuff and came across the Miami Hurricanes' visit to Japan in 1979. Fun to read. There are universities that have American football teams now and even a bowl game called the Rice Bowl, but most Japanese still have trouble understanding the sport. A guy I work with loves the NFL and maybe knows more than me about it, but has no idea about college football. Anyone remember this game? What was really interesting was that the Canes traveled back to the States and beat the Gators one week later. Nice to see the Canes came to Japan so I thought I'd post it.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The 1979 edition of the Miami Hurricanes became known as the "Jet-Lag Kids" for their extensive travels around the country and even the world. The team set an NCAA record with over 28,000 miles traveled throughout the season, highlighted by a trip to Japan for a regular season game against rival Notre Dame.
The matchup in the Mirage Bowl (November 24, 1979) was the last time prior to the 2010 Sun Bowl that Miami and Notre Dame met on a neutral field, as well as the only game in Miami football history that was played outside the United States.
It also marked the ninth straight year that the two teams met and the 13th overall with the Irish owning a 10-1-1 edge in the series at the time.
The 1979 season also marked the beginning of a new era in Miami football with Howard Schnellenberger taking over the reigns as head coach. The team struggled in the first year of his tenure, going 5-6, but better days would be right around the corner for the Hurricanes.
However, even with the mediocre season, the team had the opportunity to play a game in a foreign country against one of its biggest rivals. Notre Dame won the game easily 40-15, but the overall experience goes down as one of the more memorable games in the series because of the special nature of the game in Tokyo.
The Mirage Bowl started in 1977, pitting two American college football teams against each other. Mirage refers to the title sponsor of the Mitsubishi Mirage sports car, manufactured in Japan. The two previous matchups featured Grambling versus Temple in 1977 and Temple against Boston College in 1978. Without question, the 1979 matchup was much more anticipated with two big-name programs full of tradition willing to fly across the Pacific Ocean to compete.
The game came about in 1977 as the Mirage Bowl organizing committee offered to pay the expenses of each team as well as pay at least $200,000 guaranteed for participating. Both teams agreed, due to the finances as well as the unique opportunity. In addition, the game date was at the end of the semester, therefore not disrupting the academic schedule.
".both schools saw this as a chance to make some money," said a Notre Dame athletic spokesperson at the time. "And at the end of the season it won't disrupt the academic schedule."
In addition, they each got the opportunity to experience a different culture and expand the sport of football to Japan.
The Japanese were not very familiar with the sport but they went with it anyway, ".all but a few hundred of the 62,574 fans at Olympic Stadium were Japanese. And most didn't know a punt from a pass, or when to cheer or what to cheer for," wrote Jim Martz of the Miami Herald.
Football was fairly new to Japan, having only been in the public eye for about 10-15 years at the time. However, this game was billed as the country's biggest sporting event of the year. The interest around the Mirage Bowl wasn't a surprise, considering the NFL's Super Bowl was one of the highest-rated broadcasts in Japan at the time, supporting the country's curiosity in the sport.
To help the fans learn the sport, the game program dedicated many pages to the basics of football, including rules and scoring explanations, in Japanese of course. There were also pages describing the equipment the players wear, as well as the hand signals of the officials, all in an effort to educate the fans.
The program also featured letters from many dignitaries, including President Jimmy Carter.
"I am confident both teams will be fine representatives of our nation's long tradition of collegiate athletics," Carter said in the letter. "Please extend my congratulations and best wishes to everyone involved in this effort which will strengthen the friendship between the United States and Japan."
Japan's Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira also offered his best wishes.
"This year's game between the prestigious University of Notre Dame and Florida's pride, the University of Miami, will be an exciting match," Ohira said. "In recent years, the popularity of American football has increased in Japan. I feel certain that the Mirage Bowl will help enhance and promote understanding and friendship between Japan and the United States."
The trip took marked the end of four consecutive games away from the Orange Bowl for the Hurricanes, who had played at Syracuse, No. 19 Penn St., and No. 1 Alabama prior to Tokyo. The Mirage Bowl was just one week following the Alabama game, so Miami had no extra time to prepare for the trip. Notre Dame was in a similar situation, having played a game in South Bend against Clemson the previous week.
The Hurricanes' chartered flight arrived in Tokyo on the Wednesday before the game, with the entire trip taking 24 ½ hours from the time the bus left campus to the team's arrival at the hotel in Japan with a lengthy flight in between.
"I don't think we will have to worry about anybody goofing around tonight," said UM assistant coach Len Fontes.
"I'm going to sleep for three weeks," declared UM offensive tackle Frank Frazier.
Both teams stayed in the same hotel and ate in adjacent dining halls, but there were no issues other than a Miami player posing for a picture with two Notre Dame female cheerleaders to the chagrin of Coach Schnellenberger.
"Don't you know we have a game to play?" Schnellenberger roared. "Get over here!"
Nevertheless, both teams showed respect for each other and took in all the trip had to offer.
The game itself did not end up being very competitive, as Dan Devine and the Irish scored a touchdown on their opening drive and never looked back en route to an easy win. The key to the victory in the rainy weather was the ground attack led by Notre Dame senior halfback Vagas Ferguson, who ran for 177 yards on 35 carries with three touchdowns. Ferguson was awarded the game's MVP and would go on to finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting that season.
The Hurricanes were designated as the home team and wore orange jerseys, while the Irish were clad in their traditional green uniforms.
The fans did not have a specific rooting interest coming into the game, but were distributed pom-pons the color of the team they were supposed to cheer for depending on their section of the stadium.
Miami quarterback Jim Kelly started the game, but left due to injury early on. Halfback Chris Hobbs was deemed the "Most Dedicated Player." He ran for 23 yards and caught two passes for 11 more.
"But that shows you how much they know about football," Hobbs said after the game. "I didn't do anything."
The schools' bands and cheerleaders also made the trip, making several appearances throughout the time they were in Japan, including a joint performance the day before the game at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium. The bands also played throughout the game along with the Japanese Bugle Corp, entertaining the fans who paid just as much attention to them as they did the game.
Coach Devine remarked, "As Howard was telling me, it's too bad more people don't recognize two fine teams are playing. There's just as much interest in the bands."
The traveling parties headed out following the game, but left with plenty of memories even with a lopsided game on the field.
Miami quarterback Mike Rodrigue reflected on the experience after the game, "It was definitely tough to keep your mind on the game this week. But it was just as tough on Notre Dame. But the Japanese treated us nice. As far as playing the game, it was really tough, but everybody wanted to see Japan and buy things."
"It was a great experience for the players," said coach Devine. "And I enjoyed it too. But I wouldn't want to do it right away. We were treated as well as anyone can ever be. It was different having a team together for week under these conditions. Trying at times? Of course, but it was still a great experience."
Coach Schnellenberger echoed those sentiments to the Japanese media.
"Even though we didn't learn much about football today, we learned a lot about your country the last five days. It has been an exhilarating experience for our team and band."
There was no rest for the weary as Miami returned to the Orange Bowl the following week to defeat the Florida Gators in the season finale.
Notre Dame's season ended in Japan, as the Irish finished 7-4.
The Mirage Bowl would continue to be played every year until 1993, to great success.
The 1979 Miami-Notre Dame matchup was played in a much different environment than the teams were used to, but was a great example of sports diplomacy.
The two schools would close the book on the decade and this great rivalry would heat up even more entering the 1980's.
Article Link
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The 1979 edition of the Miami Hurricanes became known as the "Jet-Lag Kids" for their extensive travels around the country and even the world. The team set an NCAA record with over 28,000 miles traveled throughout the season, highlighted by a trip to Japan for a regular season game against rival Notre Dame.
The matchup in the Mirage Bowl (November 24, 1979) was the last time prior to the 2010 Sun Bowl that Miami and Notre Dame met on a neutral field, as well as the only game in Miami football history that was played outside the United States.
It also marked the ninth straight year that the two teams met and the 13th overall with the Irish owning a 10-1-1 edge in the series at the time.
The 1979 season also marked the beginning of a new era in Miami football with Howard Schnellenberger taking over the reigns as head coach. The team struggled in the first year of his tenure, going 5-6, but better days would be right around the corner for the Hurricanes.
However, even with the mediocre season, the team had the opportunity to play a game in a foreign country against one of its biggest rivals. Notre Dame won the game easily 40-15, but the overall experience goes down as one of the more memorable games in the series because of the special nature of the game in Tokyo.
The Mirage Bowl started in 1977, pitting two American college football teams against each other. Mirage refers to the title sponsor of the Mitsubishi Mirage sports car, manufactured in Japan. The two previous matchups featured Grambling versus Temple in 1977 and Temple against Boston College in 1978. Without question, the 1979 matchup was much more anticipated with two big-name programs full of tradition willing to fly across the Pacific Ocean to compete.
The game came about in 1977 as the Mirage Bowl organizing committee offered to pay the expenses of each team as well as pay at least $200,000 guaranteed for participating. Both teams agreed, due to the finances as well as the unique opportunity. In addition, the game date was at the end of the semester, therefore not disrupting the academic schedule.
".both schools saw this as a chance to make some money," said a Notre Dame athletic spokesperson at the time. "And at the end of the season it won't disrupt the academic schedule."
In addition, they each got the opportunity to experience a different culture and expand the sport of football to Japan.
The Japanese were not very familiar with the sport but they went with it anyway, ".all but a few hundred of the 62,574 fans at Olympic Stadium were Japanese. And most didn't know a punt from a pass, or when to cheer or what to cheer for," wrote Jim Martz of the Miami Herald.
Football was fairly new to Japan, having only been in the public eye for about 10-15 years at the time. However, this game was billed as the country's biggest sporting event of the year. The interest around the Mirage Bowl wasn't a surprise, considering the NFL's Super Bowl was one of the highest-rated broadcasts in Japan at the time, supporting the country's curiosity in the sport.
To help the fans learn the sport, the game program dedicated many pages to the basics of football, including rules and scoring explanations, in Japanese of course. There were also pages describing the equipment the players wear, as well as the hand signals of the officials, all in an effort to educate the fans.
The program also featured letters from many dignitaries, including President Jimmy Carter.
"I am confident both teams will be fine representatives of our nation's long tradition of collegiate athletics," Carter said in the letter. "Please extend my congratulations and best wishes to everyone involved in this effort which will strengthen the friendship between the United States and Japan."
Japan's Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira also offered his best wishes.
"This year's game between the prestigious University of Notre Dame and Florida's pride, the University of Miami, will be an exciting match," Ohira said. "In recent years, the popularity of American football has increased in Japan. I feel certain that the Mirage Bowl will help enhance and promote understanding and friendship between Japan and the United States."
The trip took marked the end of four consecutive games away from the Orange Bowl for the Hurricanes, who had played at Syracuse, No. 19 Penn St., and No. 1 Alabama prior to Tokyo. The Mirage Bowl was just one week following the Alabama game, so Miami had no extra time to prepare for the trip. Notre Dame was in a similar situation, having played a game in South Bend against Clemson the previous week.
The Hurricanes' chartered flight arrived in Tokyo on the Wednesday before the game, with the entire trip taking 24 ½ hours from the time the bus left campus to the team's arrival at the hotel in Japan with a lengthy flight in between.
"I don't think we will have to worry about anybody goofing around tonight," said UM assistant coach Len Fontes.
"I'm going to sleep for three weeks," declared UM offensive tackle Frank Frazier.
Both teams stayed in the same hotel and ate in adjacent dining halls, but there were no issues other than a Miami player posing for a picture with two Notre Dame female cheerleaders to the chagrin of Coach Schnellenberger.
"Don't you know we have a game to play?" Schnellenberger roared. "Get over here!"
Nevertheless, both teams showed respect for each other and took in all the trip had to offer.
The game itself did not end up being very competitive, as Dan Devine and the Irish scored a touchdown on their opening drive and never looked back en route to an easy win. The key to the victory in the rainy weather was the ground attack led by Notre Dame senior halfback Vagas Ferguson, who ran for 177 yards on 35 carries with three touchdowns. Ferguson was awarded the game's MVP and would go on to finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting that season.
The Hurricanes were designated as the home team and wore orange jerseys, while the Irish were clad in their traditional green uniforms.
The fans did not have a specific rooting interest coming into the game, but were distributed pom-pons the color of the team they were supposed to cheer for depending on their section of the stadium.
Miami quarterback Jim Kelly started the game, but left due to injury early on. Halfback Chris Hobbs was deemed the "Most Dedicated Player." He ran for 23 yards and caught two passes for 11 more.
"But that shows you how much they know about football," Hobbs said after the game. "I didn't do anything."
The schools' bands and cheerleaders also made the trip, making several appearances throughout the time they were in Japan, including a joint performance the day before the game at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium. The bands also played throughout the game along with the Japanese Bugle Corp, entertaining the fans who paid just as much attention to them as they did the game.
Coach Devine remarked, "As Howard was telling me, it's too bad more people don't recognize two fine teams are playing. There's just as much interest in the bands."
The traveling parties headed out following the game, but left with plenty of memories even with a lopsided game on the field.
Miami quarterback Mike Rodrigue reflected on the experience after the game, "It was definitely tough to keep your mind on the game this week. But it was just as tough on Notre Dame. But the Japanese treated us nice. As far as playing the game, it was really tough, but everybody wanted to see Japan and buy things."
"It was a great experience for the players," said coach Devine. "And I enjoyed it too. But I wouldn't want to do it right away. We were treated as well as anyone can ever be. It was different having a team together for week under these conditions. Trying at times? Of course, but it was still a great experience."
Coach Schnellenberger echoed those sentiments to the Japanese media.
"Even though we didn't learn much about football today, we learned a lot about your country the last five days. It has been an exhilarating experience for our team and band."
There was no rest for the weary as Miami returned to the Orange Bowl the following week to defeat the Florida Gators in the season finale.
Notre Dame's season ended in Japan, as the Irish finished 7-4.
The Mirage Bowl would continue to be played every year until 1993, to great success.
The 1979 Miami-Notre Dame matchup was played in a much different environment than the teams were used to, but was a great example of sports diplomacy.
The two schools would close the book on the decade and this great rivalry would heat up even more entering the 1980's.
Article Link
