An American Ex-Pat Living And Working In East Asia
The Gators broke a 6 game losing streak (spanning 23 years!) with the Miami Hurricanes today with a respectable 26 to 3 final score!
I was not able to see the game, but I heard much of it via the internet and despite their success, it seems the Gators still have a lot of room for improvement if they are going to be ready for their SEC opponents!
I love Gator football!
Go Gators!
The University of Florida Gators started the 2008 football season against the University of Hawaii’s Warriors.
Hawaii was expecting a “lu’au in [the] Swamp” - uh, I don’t think so!
I thought they had already learned their lesson about SEC football… I guess this time they’ll have to take their lesson from the Gators!
Hawaii, consider yourself schooled!
The final score, Florida 56, Hawaii 10.
It wont be long now and things will begin to get steamy in The Swamp again!
When I was a student at UF, a long, long time ago - back when they were going for their FIRST national championship and the golden armed, Heisman winner was known as “Danny Wuerfell”, I never missed a home game at The Swamp.
I have never experienced anything quite like The Swamp since that time, and if you have not experienced a Gator football game in that stadium, I don’t know what would be a good comparison to suggest to you.
What makes this stadium so special compared to others?
Here are a few reasons from the Bleacher Report:
The name: The official name of the stadium is actually Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, but since former Head Coach Steve Spurrier tagged it ‘The Swamp” in the early ’90s, the name has stuck. Coach Spurrier said: “…a swamp is where Gators live. We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. Only Gators get out alive.”
The stadium: The Swamp isn’t the largest stadium in college football, but the stadium does hold over 90,000 fans. The stadium design gives a distinct advantage to the home team. A portion of the stadium is below ground level, and the stadium is completely enclosed. This design traps noise extremely well while cutting off any breeze that could flow through the stadium. The stands are also 10 feet away from the players on both sides, and combined with the 90+ rows of stands behind them give the stadium a claustrophobic feeling.
The fans: Gator fans are loud, loud, and loud some more, all game long. From the time the Orange and Blue chants quiet down before kickoff to the end of the 4th quarter, Florida fans are notoriously vocal. Make a big play on the field, and the the crowd doesn’t just cheer. It erupts. Sometimes the crowd is so loud the stadium will shake. Look around during a game and count the number of opposing fans covering their ears.
The team:
The Florida Gators have not had a losing team since 1979, and have been relevant on a national level since the 1990 season. There were sporadic appearances on the national radar before, but nothing major. It is no coincidence that in this time frame people have started taking The Swamp into consideration as a tough place to play. The progress of the football program combined with rabidness of the fans and the confines of the stadium, and it makes for a daunting task to play in Gainesville.
There are others, people with a great deal of perspective on the matter who also feel the Swamp is a tough place for non-Gators to play football:
“The loudest, most obnoxious and notorious piece of real estate in all of college football.”
– The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on The Swamp
“BEN . . . HILL . . . GRIFFIN Stadium . . . at Florida Field, has the longest name in college football . . . and it has the loudest fans! Trust us!”
– Chris Fowler, ESPN College Gameday Host on The Swamp
“There is no better place than ‘The Swamp’! That opening on the big screen with the alligator, it’s the best ever. When the Gators run out of the tunnel, it is absolutely the moment of moments in college football.”
– Lee Corso, ESPN College Football Analyst on The Swamp
“The Swamp,” as it was nicknamed by Steve Spurrier, can prove to be a rough place for the opposition. It is super loud, and the intensity of the fans remains the same from start to finish.
– Mel Kiper, ESPN Football Analyst about The Swamp
“The Swamp” is incredibly loud and combines with the Gators’ superior talent on the field to overwhelm almost every visiting team.
– Mel Kiper, ESPN Football Analyst about The Swamp
“Florida Field is the nation’s loudest stadium. Take any heavy metal album, crank it, then place your speakers in a tin basement. That sounds like a library compared to ‘The Swamp’.”
– The Sporting News
Aug. 30th Hawaii 12:30 P.M.
It’s not the toughest schedule out there, but it certainly is no walk in the park either. It will be interesting to see what the BCS ends up ranking their “Strength of Schedule” at.
It’s great playing in the SEC where there are so many caliber football programs!
By quarterback Tim Tebow’s reckoning, his offseason training regimen stretched over three continents and included four countries.
Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and a member of Florida’s 2006 national title team, begins two-a-day practices with the Gators on Aug. 4. He spent his summer with his father’s ministry that took him to the Philippines, Croatia and Thailand.
“I have been a lot of places, and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind for me,” Tebow said Wednesday in Hoover, Ala., at the Southeastern Conference’s annual news media summit. “You get to do a lot of unique training, running up mountains, running up steps. I trained Rocky-style a little bit. It was pretty cool.”
“I love doing it, and it’s something I’m very passionate about,” Tebow said about helping others. “Doing those things, taking my platform as a football player and using it to be an influence and change peoples’ lives — that’s more important than football to me.”
I don’t think I could like this guy any more than I do. I believe that even if he wasn’t a Gator, say a Seminole, a Volunteer, or a Bulldog, I’d still love him!
In the four months since Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, he has sought to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ as far as possible. Winning college football’s most coveted individual award does not seem to have taken away his focus nor his passion for serving Jesus Christ, and it has provided him with an even broader audience.
“Everybody is telling me I’ve made it,” Tebow told the inmates. “They tell me, ‘Tim, you have success and you’ve made it.’ I’ve won the Heisman Trophy, so I’ve got it made, right? One day, people are going to forget about me. One day, people are going to forget about the Heisman Trophy, the jump pass and the national championship. One day, this [championship] ring is going to rust. There are only four things that are going to last forever: God, his word, people and rewards.
Looks like there’s gonna be a race in Gainesville today…
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Urban Meyer is searching for the fastest student on campus.
He’s quite certain it’s one of his football players — Louis Murphy, Chris Rainey or Deonte Thompson. But just in case, he’s having a race Saturday to find out for sure.
And what happens if someone beats his speedsters before the team’s spring game?
“They’re on scholarship,” Meyer said
Percy Harvin was supposed to be the main attraction for the race, but he had heel surgery Monday and is out for two months.
That left Murphy, Rainey and Thompson as the fastest Meyer had to offer.
Murphy, a senior from St. Petersburg, caught 39 passes for 590 yards and six touchdowns last season. Rainey and Thompson, both redshirt freshmen, were two of Meyer’s prized recruits in last year’s top-rated class.
Although Meyer promised a full scholarship to any student who beats his players, the coach’s reason for organizing the event wasn’t to find a running back, receiver, defensive back or kick returner from campus.
The game will be televised on ESPN, offering Meyer a chance to spread his recruiting pitch about wanting to be “the fastest team in America,” and having a race featuring three of his stars could help sell the school.
All I’ve got to say is, don’t underestimate what a poor college student will do for a full scholarship!
I don’t know what it is about the environment over there at FSU (Free Shoes University), but it just seems that this sort of thing is the norm, not the exception from the Seminoles.
TALLAHASSEE - As many as 25 Florida State University football players will be suspended for the Seminoles’ bowl game against Kentucky in the wake of an academic cheating scandal and other infractions, the school said today.
The Seminoles meet Kentucky in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee, on Dec. 31. Both teams were 7-5 during college football’s regular season.
If you know me, you know I’m no fan of FSU, I’m a GATOR all the way.
However, I am a fan of FSU’s head coach Bobby Bowden. He is a man of character with a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. That is what makes this sort of thing even more baffling!
Why is it that there seems to consistently be controversies like this coming out of Tallahassee?
Any ideas?
It seems that not as big a deal is made out of these things when the team is doing poorly - which is probably why this story has barely made a footnote in the national media. Imagine the uproar if Ohio State or LSU were suspending 25 players for their bowl game!
Tim Tebow, winner of the 2007 Heisman Award, has been receiving calls and letters of congratulations from people all over who have been impressed with his athletic achievements as well as his excellent display of character.
In addition to a phone call from Chuck Norris, he received a letter from President George W. Bush on December 9th;
Dear Tim,
Congratulations on winning the Heisman Trophy. More importantly, I appreciate your priorities as stated in your speech! Faith, family, academics and sport. If your mission was to allow the Almighty to shine brightly, it worked. I appreciate the love and pride that your parents obviously felt last night. Please give them my best.
Sincerely, George Bush
BTW, it was a handwritten note, not something done by some aide.
Congratulations Tim, you were the best man!
It meant a great deal to me how Tim Tebow has consistently ‘walked his talk’ in regards to his faith in Jesus Christ and how he was very quick to give thanks to JC upon receiving the Heisman Trophy!
It was also good to see Danny Wuerffel up there, I know that Wuerffel’s testimony had an impact on Tebow.
I hope that Tebow has another year (or two!) of success at the University of Florida. Tebow is not new to breaking records, could he possibly be the first to win the Heisman twice? Is that allowed?
If it is, Tebow has a great chance to do it!
Hi! I'm Steve Webel and this is my blog. Thanks for stopping by!For more about me.
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