I woke up early Saturday morning and despite the early rise I was excited because there’s nothing like waking up early on a Saturday to head to tailgating and college football! And my friends and I were heading to a Miami Hurricane football game at Sun Life Stadium. What added to it more was that there were a lot of Hurricane fans dressed in green and orange leaving the different buildings in Brickell as I picked up my friends. It reminded me a lot of a Saturday morning in Eugene with everyone in green and yellow and streaming out of dorms, houses, and apartments. Of course it couldn’t fill the void of not actually being in Eugene and a Duck game at Autzen Stadium, but it was good to have some college football again!
I’d been to Sun Life for a lot of Dolphins and Marlins games, but hadn’t been to a Hurricane game yet. Tailgating at Sun Life is decent. The parking lot I always park in has grass between the rows and a lot of people set up tents and things there. It’s not as die-hard as Autzen and a lot of other places I’ve tailgated at with RVs and gigantic BBQs and big parties but there are still decent-sized groups having a lot of fun and playing tailgate games. Some people bring BBQs and tents, but there also is a lot of brings snacks and beer on the back of the car (see pic below). A Publix trip usually precedes heading to Sun Life Stadium.
My friends and I tailgated outside the stadium and had a lot of fun (plus got some sun- I got a little bit burnt) before heading in for the game. Our seats were in the covered club level, which was great because it was a pretty hot day to be out in the direct sun for that long of a game. It stays pretty cool in the shade, but also the club level connects to the inside club level all AC’d and with food and drinks. The club level has an awesome ice bar where the whole bar-top is covered in a thin layer of ice. It looks like sand for a second and you can draw things in it, along with keeping your drink cold. It’s nice during halftime to take a seat and watch some of the other games in the lounge.
The game was a great time to spend hanging out with friends and watching football, plus tailgating beforehand. An article on Yahoo came up sort of bashing the attendance at the beginning of the game, but a lot of people filled in after tailgating, plus it’s a big stadium far from campus. I think the UM fans made a solid showing for a game against Bethune Cookman and it didn’t affect the atmosphere at all. The U also got a nice win on Saturday!
Of course saying this with a strong bias- it’s not Autzen and Duck football but I think I’m down to accept the U as my surrogate team while I’m here in Miami and attend more games!
portlandermiamian 
Enjoyed your comments. Have a question : I’m planning on being in Miami for a work conference the end of October and also plan on the homecoming game with FSU. Any idea where I might be able to get some good tickets, and I’d also like to find some people to party/tailgate with….any ideas?
Thanks
There are still tickets available on the UM Athletics website (http://hurricanesports.com/). Stubhub is also popular to get tickets but I’d suggest the UM official site.
For finding some people to party/tailgate I’d recommend the UM alumni association one for meeting people- http://www6.miami.edu/alumniweekend/pregame.htm
Hope that helps!