‘HBCUs are so important.’ What JSU and FAMU fans experienced at the Orange Blossom Classic
BY C. ISAIAH SMALLS II
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 06, 2021 09:45 PM
Orange Blossom Classic moves back to Miami
Tents lined the aisles leading to the stadium. The sound of blaring trumpets filled the air. Fans, the majority of whom were awash in arrays of orange and green or blue and white, stood around coolers and portable smokers.
This was the scene Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium where the Florida A&M Rattlers battled the Jackson State Tigers in the Orange Blossom Classic. The Tigers pulled out a 7-6 win over the Rattlers but the real show happened in the stands and the bowels of the stadium where fans reveled with friends and family alike.
“It was awesome,” said JSU alum Laverne Segars of Atlanta. “We haven’t been in this type of arena in so long.”
With COVID-19 having decimated many public gatherings in 2020, Sunday’s game felt long overdue. It might’ve been the first game of the season but for attendees, the energy closely resembled that of homecoming, one of the premiere events for HBCU students and alumni. Not even the brief showers that drenched a score of fans just before kickoff could dampen the mood: Ponchos were thrown over carefully curated outfits and people shrunk for cover under the canopy but the party did not stop.
“Corona made us respect and cherish the times that we could travel,” said Dr. Heavenly Kimes, a FAMU grad and star of “Married to Medicine.” “We took a lot of stuff for granted but now we make [the game] more special because we know that we may not be able to get out.”
The atmosphere even impressed JSU Coach Deion Sanders, who compared it to his last on-field experience at Hard Rock Stadium: Super Bowl XXIX in 1995.
“Just to see the fans, hear the fans, to hear the sonic boom, to feel the boos and the jeers and the haters and naysayers from Florida A&M, that was wonderful,” Sanders said. “I love that kind of emotional roller coaster. I like seeing the guys’ faces because they start feeding off the fans.”
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