Football in Florida
We all know the real sport of the South is football. So, of course the sport of Florida is football. Florida is loaded with talent. High school football here is probably the best in the nation. There are 3 premier college teams in this state: Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, and Miami Hurricanes. There are also 3 NFL teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins.
Of course, the only REAL college team in Florida is the Florida Gators. |
 |
|
Florida Gators
The Gators, located in Gainesville, FL, are my favorite team. I have estimated that I have attended 70 Gator games (most, but not all, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium). The Gators are usually one of the best teams in the best conference, the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The Gators have won 1 National Championship (in 1996) by beating Florida State in the Sugar Bowl.
The Gators have also won 6 SEC championships, all in the past 12 years (all under Spurrier). In 1984 and 1990, the Gators were the best in the SEC (under probation).
What would Southern college football be like without traditions. The Gators have quite a few. Some of those include Mr. Two Bits and the Two Bits cheer, the Jaws theme accompanied by the fans doing The Chomp, singing We Are The Boys Of Ole Florida at the end of the 3rd quarter, and of course, the best tradition of all is......winning.
Florida also has quite arguably the best fans in football. A CBS Sportsline fan poll asked which team had the loudest stadium. The Swamp (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium) received the most votes, edging out Auburn and Tennessee.
My top games I have witnessed were:
#1: Florida State at Florida 1997. Gators were down 25-29 with about 2 minutes to go. The Gators receive the kickoff, and the first play from scrimmage, Doug Johnson chucks the ball down the field for Jacquez Green. Fred Taylor then runs the ball 20 yards, and then 1 yard for the TD to go up by 3 (with the PAT). I remember Janikowski kicking the field goal to go up by 4 right in the north endzone where I sit. He then did the Gator chomp to everyone on our side. I guess we can see what happened moments later.
#2: Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville 2002: Gators win 20-13. It is always great to see Georgia lose to Florida, but it was even better, because Georgia was the favorite. They had not lost a game all season, and the Gators didn't have Spurrier, and had lost 3 games. It was also my first Florida-Georgia game.
#3: Tennessee at Florida 1999: Gators won 23-21. This was the year after UT won the National Championship. Florida had to hold Jamal Lewis on 4th down to win. The 4th down hold was on my end zone.
There were some other great games I have attended, but the Gators lost those. 1999 Alabama at Florida. Alabama won 40-39 in OT. 1998 Florida at Tennessee. Tennessee won 20-17 in OT and went on to win the National Championship.
|
