by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
There are plenty of new experiences happening as a result of the Progressive Gator Bowl on Saturday.
The game will feature a new conference match-up pitting the Big Ten’s Michigan Wolverines against the SEC’s Mississippi State Bulldogs. Progressive is the new title sponsor. Rich Rodriguez will make his first appearance as head coach of the Wolverines and Dan Mullen will make his first as head coach of the Bulldogs.
But some experiences are a lot more simple and affect the lives of the players.
“Part of putting on a good show is making sure that the players have just as good a time here as the fans do,” said Erik Dellenback, Gator Bowl vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer.
“Part of that is bringing them out to the beach, which some of them have never seen before,” he said.
The ocean may be easy to comprehend on a globe or in a book, but the view is different from the shore, when there’s no direct view of what’s on the other side.
“It’s wild to think of the water just continuing on and on,” said Cullen Christian, a Michigan freshman cornerback, looking out at the horizon at Jacksonville Beach. Christian grew up in Verona, Pa., and was seeing the ocean for the first time.
Both teams visited the beach at the Comfort Inn, where Outback Steakhouse hosted a party for the players, and Adventure Landing along Beach Boulevard, where players had amusements to enjoy to take their minds off of the Saturday
game.
Each team visited the beach and Adventure Landing on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on different days.
The beach party featured games that would normally be found at tailgate parties before football games.
“I’m the king of bocce,” joked John Ferrara, a senior Michigan offensive lineman. “I’m Italian. It would be kind of sad if I wasn’t.”
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