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Orlando has completley turned on us

TheOriginalCane said:
Look, all these people arguing that Central Florida is "Gaytor Country" are just missing the point.

I moved to Orlando in the early 1970s. I grew up rooting for UF, F$U, and UM until I enrolled at UM, and have hated UF and F$U ever since.

Merchandise, sports radio, and other outward displays of fandom didn't become a big thing until the 1980s. And, yes, in other areas of the state (Orlando, Tampa, SW FL) you could usually find Florida Big 3 merch. Now, the team that gets squeezed out by UCF in Orlando and USF in Tampa is Miami. You can ALWAYS find Gaytor merch, and you can usually find F$U merch (sparse the last couple of years).

We have to deal with reality and math. The only way that any store (outside of the big sporting goods chains) are going to carry UM merch is if we start winning the ACC and making the Final Four (football or hoops). Sports radio outside of SoFla will talk about us when we win. But the massive size of UCF and USF, and the massive size of their alumni bases, will continue to put UM (at least in Central Florida) in fifth place in the discussion. Unless we win big.

That's why we should put UCF and USF in the ACC. Because the best way to be in the mix, and the best way to appeal to fans outside of SoFla, is to be a relevant part of the media coverage year-round. Rivalries. Games that matter. Too many pvssy Miami fans get scared of "Miami elevating UCF and USF by allowing them into the ACC", and they ignore how Miami will always have the edge over UCF and USF, historically and by being in a better talent hotbed.
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you do realize UCF, UF, FSU are all STATE Schools with large enrollments correct?. Why the **** are you speaking on merch in comparison to UM.......IN CENTRAL FLORIDA of all places. Just off of the student enrollment they will SELL MORE MERCH. There is no benefit to us and ucf being in the same conference. And with UCF going on their last run the last 2 years....they were STILL a blip on the radar in south florida. Like literally the same covg as FIU
 
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razrcane said:
LOL hardly. Literally everywhere I go someone always comes up to me saying they are a fan....Atlanta, Vegas, Charlotte, air planes, etc. heck even in Birmingham, Alabama you got people still reppin the canes (and all of those were just in the last month).
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I got approached about the U (was wearing a hoodie) in my trip to Portugal by a french dude.
 
Palm Harbor Cane said:
They a

They also won 35 games in the last 3 years!
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jed1250 said:
Well it is understandable, UCF is in downtown Orlando, and they win, win a lot. They may also be 5 times our size
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No their in east Orlando not downtown but they are the main player and are better than us. It would make sense they are big in their hometown
 
I'm so glad OP statred this thread, I couldn't sleep not knowing how the City of Orlando felt about Miami.
Now I can rest easy.
 
GOCanes4420 said:
I can remember 15 years ago I would come to Orlando for business and it would probably be 40% Canes, 20% Seminoles, Gators and UCF. Im talking radio, merchandise etc. Orlando is now a UCF town in the way Gainesville and Tallahasse are. Radio, hotels, walmarts, residents...all UCF all the time. Maybe a little off topic but it's interesting how things have changed and how it will affect us
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It's a **** hole that has never been a Canes town so who cares?
 
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GOCanes4420 said:
I can remember 15 years ago I would come to Orlando for business and it would probably be 40% Canes, 20% Seminoles, Gators and UCF. Im talking radio, merchandise etc. Orlando is now a UCF town in the way Gainesville and Tallahasse are. Radio, hotels, walmarts, residents...all UCF all the time. Maybe a little off topic but it's interesting how things have changed and how it will affect us
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U do realize UCF is in Orlando..that like a FSU fan coming to Dade and being shocked at the amount of hurricanes merch
 
orange&green84 said:
I lived in Orlando back when UF had Tebow up until Muschamp was nearing the end. I never saw Orlando as a Canes town. It was mainly gators and Noles.
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Exactly. Was up there for the champs game in HS and was hard to find apparel in the stores..at the Game this year same thing
 
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gogeta4 said:
you do realize UCF, UF, FSU are all STATE Schools with large enrollments correct?. Why the **** are you speaking on merch in comparison to UM.......IN CENTRAL FLORIDA of all places. Just off of the student enrollment they will SELL MORE MERCH. There is no benefit to us and ucf being in the same conference. And with UCF going on their last run the last 2 years....they were STILL a blip on the radar in south florida. Like literally the same covg as FIU
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I know exactly what I'm talking abut. I've lived in Orlando (for the most part) since the early 1970s, and UCF merch is a RECENT DEVELOPMENT. Trust me on this.

And, yes, I have seen UM merch in Orlando/Tampa area stores. IN THE PAST, not recently.

I'm not talking about overall quantity of merchandise, I'm simply talking about availability. Stores would carry 10 different universities, if they all sell in decent quantities. Miami isn't selling right now, and as a small private school, yes, we will get squeezed out by large state schools.

There is absolutely benefit to Miami being in the same conference as USF and UCF. Two additional Top 20 media markets. Two additional rivalries. Two teams that have frequently and recently been better than about half of the ACC teams.

We just have to beat USF and UCF regularly.

And, currently, even the Virginia and North Carolina teams are beating us regularly.
 
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