Gators Chomp Tigers

Not much happened during January mainly because we’d both been under the weather with one bug or another.  However, we were well enough to attend a Missouri basketball game in Gainesville, FL, about mid-month at the University of Florida.  Located about 2 hours north, we’d have to leave early since we were unfamiliar with the area and would need to find a place to park.  Game time was set for 1pm so it was going to be a long day, and thankfully our friend, Amanda agreed to come by to check on Abby.

As luck would have it, the parking lot on campus directly adjacent to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center where the game would be held had plenty of spots available when we arrived.  Our first mission was to find a restroom, and the closest was across the street in the Ben Hill Griffin (Football) Stadium, affectionately called “The Swamp”

since the early 1990s by those in Gator Nation.  We were surprised at how small the interior of the stadium appeared even though it can hold about 90,000.  The steps seem to go straight up, and there’s just no extra space around the field like many other stadiums we’ve seen.

 

Outside the stadium is a huge bronze alligator with the inscription “In honor of the 2006 Football National Championship and members of the Bull Gator program” along with the names of those members. 
A little further down on the west side of the stadium are some plaques immortalizing former students who were enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame and 3 large bronze statues of former students and Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, and Tim Tebow.
 

   Since we still had time to kill, we walked back across the street to the O’Connell Center, continuing around the building to check out the surrounding campus. Once inside we stopped by the pre-game rally designed to get everyone pumped up with games, music,

  balloon animals, autographs from the ladies' softball team, and you could even get your picture taken with the Florida Gators mascots, Albert and Alberta.  These young Mizzou fans had no issue with that!

 

   Inside the arena both teams were busy warming up, and we hung out for awhile behind the railing of the lower level to watch. It was still an hour before game time, and the student section (known as the
            “Rowdy Reptiles”) was already nearly full and would periodically break into working on their cheers…or should I say jeers at the Tigers?!

 

   Our seats were a few rows from the top of the arena so getting any decent photos during the game proved difficult.  The best I could do was when both teams lined up for the national anthem because the one I took at tipoff blurred!  The ladies next to us were very nice and obviously alumni.  They were really into the game and
knew all the cheers including the Gator Chomp.  Quite a number of Tigers fans were in attendance (probably a couple hundred), but it wasn’t enough to propel our team to victory.  Going in we figured it would take a miracle for our team to win, and the Gators dominated from beginning to end with a final score of 83-52.  Despite the loss, we had a good time, and always enjoy visiting other college campuses and soaking up the atmosphere.