Minium: For ODU Football, Cure Bowl is a Combination of Warm Weather, Fun and Hard Work

 

By Harry Minium

ORLANDO, Fla. – Sunday morning at 9:15, as the Old Dominion football team began a 90-minute practice session at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex, temperatures were in the low 30s and players, coaches and staff were continually pelted with a mixture of rain, sleet and snow.

“The wind was so bad that the snow and sleet were hitting you right in the face,” said Remington Rebstock, assistant defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

“It was miserable.”

Later that afternoon, the National Airlines Airbus transporting the ODU travel party was forced to sit on the tarmac at Norfolk International Airport as the plane was de-iced.

But less than two hours later, ODU Defensive Coordinator Blake Seiler was standing on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport, his eyes closed, basking in the sunny, 75 degree weather, as luggage and gear were being loaded onto buses.

“That was the coldest practice this morning we’ve ever had,” said Seiler, who came to ODU with Head Coach Ricky Rahne in 2019.

"It reminded me of my days coaching in the Big 12. 

“But the weather here is just awesome.”

Four days in awesome weather, with trips to some of Orlando’s most popular tourist haunts, is part of the reward for the ODU football team for a 9-3 regular-season that included an early-season victory at Virginia Tech and five victories in a row to end the season.

The Monarchs take on South Florida Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl at Camping World Stadium in one of the more intriguing Group of 6 bowl matchups.

USF is also 9-3 and also beat a Power 4 school when the Bulls upset Florida in Gainesville. Earlier this season, both ODU and USF were considered potential College Football Playoff contenders.

The Cure Bowl will be televised nationally on ESPN and millions are expected to tune in.

Sunday evening, the two teams came together briefly at Universal Studios City Walk, a waterfront venue close to Universal Studios with dozens of restaurants, shops and entertainment venues. Across the water was the Orlando Hard Rock Café and a place called The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen which has an eclectic industrial design with faux steam coming out of smokestacks.

City Walk is designed to delight the senses of smell, sight and hearing.

Bright lights were everywhere and music blared from loudspeakers. Even on a Sunday night, it was jammed with thousands of tourists. And you could smell the food. 

The two teams sat next to each other at a waterfront concert venue and were greeted by Cure Bowl officials.

The Cure Bowl has raised nearly $7 million for cancer research. That hit home when local newscaster Amy Kaufeldt took the stage to encourage more than 200 players, coaches and administrators to seek out medical advice if they’re not feeling right.

Men, she said, are less likely to go to the doctor than women when they have symptoms that could be an early indicator of cancer.

“Don’t be afraid to go to the doctor and get it checked out,” she urged. “I did.”

Indeed, she did. A mammogram caught her breast cancer at an early stage and she was cured because of that early detection.

As players were leaving, they were urged to sign paddles that said, “I Fight For,” with a blank space in which they were to put a name of a cancer survivor or someone they have lost to cancer.

Dozens of ODU players signed the paddles, which will be displayed in their locker room on Wednesday. Ted Alexander, voice of the Monarchs, filled one out for his wife, Laurie, who was recently was lost to breast cancer.

The players then fanned out into the City Walk area to eat dinner, play video games and perhaps watch a movie, all compliments of the Cure Bowl.

 “We had a great practice this morning, but the weather was terrible,” said Devin Roche, the ODU running back from Baltimore. "The weather here is much nicer."

"This," he added, pointing toward the restaurants, “I’m really looking forward to exploring."

The team is staying at the Renaissance Hotel adjacent to SeaWorld, which is close to just about everything in Orlando.

As is typical of all ODU bowl trips, the University rented a couple of rooms and filled them with video games, TVs, pool and air hockey tables and other entertainment, including snacks and drinks, for the players to use during their down time. Student assistants are also welcome there.

"It's a great place to just chill," said senior offensive lineman Stephon Dubose-Bourne. 

A few hundred feet away, ODU rented another room for the staff, coaches and their families to use as a gathering place.

Late into Sunday night, Jen Rahne, wife of Ricky, and Alex Rebstock, wife of Remington Rebstock, were among a group involved in an intense game of UNO as the clock neared midnight.

Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics, and his wife, Ellen, were engaged in conversation as they circulated around the room.

“It’s so good seeing everyone here, the players, coaches and staff, having a good time,” Dr. Selig said. “They deserve it.”

The players were set to spend four hours at Universal Studios on Monday afternoon and there was an optional trip set for SeaWorld Monday evening.

But this is also a business trip, as the players call it, and wake up calls were set for 7 a.m. on Monday and practice was held at nearby Freedom High School. Josh Marlow, ODU's associate athletic for equipment operations, set up a banquet room as a locker room on Monday.

On Tuesday, the team will practice at Camping World Stadium. 

Banquet rooms have been set up as meeting rooms, where the offense, defense and special teams all meet separately. Another banquet hall is a makeshift training room, where Justin Walker, ODU's head athletic trainer, and Dr. Bradley Butkovich, the team doctor and an orthopedic surgeon for Atlantic Orthopedic, are treating players.

Unlike so many college football teams, some of whom have seen many players opt out of playing in a bowl, ODU has lost only one player.

“From the moment we knew we were coming to Orlando, the goal of all of our guys has been to finish what they started,” Remington Rebstock said.

"Our guys have been locked in and focused from the day we knew where we were going to be playing in a bowl," Rahne added.

“I’m glad we're in Orlando because it’s such a great place and I’m glad our guys will get to enjoy being here.

“But they all know our goal. We want to end this season with a tenth win and a bowl ring.”

ODU Bowl Season is presented by Miller’s Home Comfort. For over 40 years, Miller’s has remained a powerful presence in the Hampton Roads community. From our initial start as a simple oil company to our growth as one of the area’s leading heating, cooling, IAQ and plumbing businesses, we've thrived because our customers trust our knowledge, honesty, reliability and professionalism.

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram

To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE