While this is the week the sports world’s focus and energy zeroes in on the finale of college basketball ‘s March Madness for both men and women.  Congrats and a shout out to the Lady Huskies of the University of Washington making their first  “Final Four”  appearance.  At the same time, across campuses and on much bigger fields, quietly, it’s also the 51st celebration of college football’s affiliation with the first of the “energy drinks” – Gatorade.

A quick flip thru the pages of sport history reveals the thirst quencher was originally developed in 1965 at the University of Florida to help refresh and re-hydrate Gator football players.

It worked. The Gators used Gatorade during the 1967 season and went on to win their first Orange Bowl.  Georgia Tech lost the game and when asked why, Tech coach Bobby Dodd replied: "We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference."

It makes you wonder if  Gatorade inventors dumped Gatorade on themselves in celebration!  Answer-nope. The now famous moment of gusto when a winning team dumps a cooler of Gatorade on their coach occurred nearly 20 years later when the NY Giants made a practice of it after wins under head coach Bill Parcells.

 

Super Bowl XLVIII - Seattle Seahawks v Denver Broncos
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So good luck to all the final four teams and those football teams rolling out for Spring practice.  Play hard, have fun and drink…whatever the trainer tells you!  And coach, face it, you're gonna get drenched!

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