Bulls Finally Go International

Posted Dec 28, 2009 by Scott Carter

Updated Dec 28, 2009 at 07:47 PM

The USF football team arrived in Toronto around 6 tonight, and by now should be close to arriving at their team hotel on the shore of Lake Ontario. I’m not heading up until the morning, but we caught up with B.J. Daniels and Chris Robinson before the team left Tampa. Here is my story running in Tuesday’s edition of The Tampa Tribune:

TAMPA—The day USF learned it was going to Toronto to play Northern Illinois in the International Bowl, senior linebacker Chris Robinson was one of the few players on a team loaded with Floridians who looked forward to the trip.

A bowl game in Canada? In the middle of winter? Is this a bad joke?

“A lot of them were kind of bummed, like they didn’t want to go out of the country,’’ Robinson said Monday as the Bulls prepared to head to Toronto.

Robinson just smiled as most of his teammates smirked. Plus, unlike most of the Bulls, he already had a passport, having made a trip to Sweden a while back.

“When we got news we were going to Canada, I was actually excited,’’ Robinson said. “Being with my teammates, on my last bowl (trip), out of the country, is going to be the best time of my life.’‘

Robinson is a big Chris Bosh fan, so at the top of his to-do list during USF’s trip north of the border is to catch a Raptors game and watch one of his favorite NBA players live.

Meanwhile, freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels has a different to-do list before kickoff of Saturday’s game at the Rogers Centre against Northern Illinois.

Daniels’ father, Bruce, was born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y. With most of Bruce’s family still in Buffalo, less than 100 miles from Toronto, B.J. is trying to secure enough tickets for around a dozen family members.

“They are excited the game is so close,’’ said Bruce, who is the girls basketball coach at Tallahassee Leon. “This will be the first time a lot of the family on that end will have a chance to see B.J. play in person.’‘

Bruce Daniels and his wife, Rhonda, won’t be making the trip from Tallahassee. They plan to watch it at home and then talk to B.J. and the family afterward.

As for B.J., who had already joined the USF basketball team by bowl season a year ago, he is looking forward to what is a unique bowl experience since it’s the only bowl game in which you need a passport to get to.

“I’m just going to experience my first bowl game, my first time being out of the country, my first time in Toronto,’’ Daniels said. “I’m just going to take it all in and when it’s time to focus on practice and film and the game, that’s what I’m going to do.

“It’s all new to me. It’s pretty exciting.’‘

USF coach Jim Leavitt has led the Bulls to five bowl trips the past five seasons. While Toronto offers a different experience than the St. Petersburg Bowl a year ago or the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, two years ago, he is confident his team will balance focusing on the game with taking full advantage of perhaps the most unique bowl experience college football has to offer.

“They’ll do both,’’ Leavitt said. “They have been to a number of bowl games. They’ll enjoy themselves, and they’ll understand we’re playing an outstanding team.’‘

To fully enjoy the experience, the Bulls packed plenty of winter clothing. By the time the team arrived in Toronto on Monday evening, the temperature was below freezing.

Temperatures are expected to fall into the teens and below several times during USF’s six-day trip. Luckily, they’ll practice and play the game indoors.

“Who is going to practice outdoors when it’s 11 degrees?” Leavitt said Monday. “These guys would boycott that.’‘

USF sports reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (813) 731-8135.