UF, FSU, UM and the CWS
I have mentioned before that I grew up essentially without roots. My dad was in the Air Force, so I started life in Pennsylvania, followed by a few years in Washington D.C, followed by a few years in Germany, followed by a few years in the upper peninsula of Michigan, then back to Pennsylvania, then out to California. After all that, my dad retired from the Air Force and we went back to Pennsylvania (where he and my mom grew up).
From there I went to college outside Philadelphia on a ROTC scholarship which put me squarely in the Navy for a lotta years and sent me to all parts of the globe (or at least the parts between the U.S. east coast and the Indian Ocean), somehow depositing me in northeast Florida when it was all said and done.
With that backround, I was not exposed to the fanaticism that is college sports (particularly football) in the southeast until I lived here. Back in Pennsylvania, I was a fan of one college team....The Villanova Wildcats. I was only a fan of that team because I went to school there. That meant during football season, I wasn't particularly thrilled, because we sucked. We sucked so bad shortly after I left, the football program was discontinued, only to be ressurected a few years later in a fairly competitive Division II format. The basketball team was another story. Every year we felt like we could make some noise in the college basketball world, and long after my departure, in 1985 (well, not that long), we won the National Championship, but I digress.
Once I hit the southeastern United States, I found a fervor for college athletics I had never encountered before. Everyone has a favorite college team regardless of their educational level or where they got however much they did. From early on you designate yourself, in a process I have yet to determine, a Gator (University of Florida), Nole (Florida State University) or Cane (University of Miami), and start wearing apparel which color coordinates you with that team. Most are Gators or Noles, at least in this part of the state, but no matter which you are (and it appears to be a loosely enforced law that you have to be one of them), you hate the other two. If you are a Gator, you inherit other hatreds that are conference driven, specifically the Dawgs (University of Georgia) and Vols (University of Tennessee). The devotion is far beyond reason. I almost got my ass kicked when, a few years ago in ther company of several Gator fans, I suggested Dan Snyder made an error when he hired Steve Spurrier to coach the Washington Redskins. Steve Spurrier was, after all, the god of football. Now that he failed in that position and is coaching the University of South Carolina, he commands far less loyalty. The process has already hooked my son, who has knighted himself a Gator. I must've been napping when they held the ceremony.
I cause problems for my Gator/Nole/Cane friends, because I am an anomoly that defies the law. I don't pick sides. It can be fun on the morning after the annual Gator/Nole football game, because there's always somebody to needle, and usually I hear the same thing. "John, you have to pick one!", but no, I don't. To be honest, I pull for all of them. I've lived here long enough that when one of the Florida teams plays someone else, I'll watch and root for the local boys. When they play each other, I just hope for a good game.
So it was with that backround that I actually watched the College World Series this past week/weekend, as the Florida Gators were in it and doing well. (Actually we all did, including my wife, who grew up in Georgia, a self- designated Dawg who usually hates the Gators.) That is something I've never really done before, and I enjoyed it much more than the MLB version of the game. The atmosphere was one of teams, with players pulling for each other, depending on each other, rooting for each other in ways you never see in the major leagues. No matter who won, it made it much more compelling and fun to watch. The Gators made it to the final series and got swept by Texas, which wasn't all that great, but still, they got there. When it's all said and done, my Gator friends are pissed at their team because they got swept by Texas. Me? I'm happy for the team that got as far as the final series. They played some awesome games against Arizona State to get there, and they have nothing to hang their head about. It was fun while it lasted.
From there I went to college outside Philadelphia on a ROTC scholarship which put me squarely in the Navy for a lotta years and sent me to all parts of the globe (or at least the parts between the U.S. east coast and the Indian Ocean), somehow depositing me in northeast Florida when it was all said and done.
With that backround, I was not exposed to the fanaticism that is college sports (particularly football) in the southeast until I lived here. Back in Pennsylvania, I was a fan of one college team....The Villanova Wildcats. I was only a fan of that team because I went to school there. That meant during football season, I wasn't particularly thrilled, because we sucked. We sucked so bad shortly after I left, the football program was discontinued, only to be ressurected a few years later in a fairly competitive Division II format. The basketball team was another story. Every year we felt like we could make some noise in the college basketball world, and long after my departure, in 1985 (well, not that long), we won the National Championship, but I digress.
Once I hit the southeastern United States, I found a fervor for college athletics I had never encountered before. Everyone has a favorite college team regardless of their educational level or where they got however much they did. From early on you designate yourself, in a process I have yet to determine, a Gator (University of Florida), Nole (Florida State University) or Cane (University of Miami), and start wearing apparel which color coordinates you with that team. Most are Gators or Noles, at least in this part of the state, but no matter which you are (and it appears to be a loosely enforced law that you have to be one of them), you hate the other two. If you are a Gator, you inherit other hatreds that are conference driven, specifically the Dawgs (University of Georgia) and Vols (University of Tennessee). The devotion is far beyond reason. I almost got my ass kicked when, a few years ago in ther company of several Gator fans, I suggested Dan Snyder made an error when he hired Steve Spurrier to coach the Washington Redskins. Steve Spurrier was, after all, the god of football. Now that he failed in that position and is coaching the University of South Carolina, he commands far less loyalty. The process has already hooked my son, who has knighted himself a Gator. I must've been napping when they held the ceremony.
I cause problems for my Gator/Nole/Cane friends, because I am an anomoly that defies the law. I don't pick sides. It can be fun on the morning after the annual Gator/Nole football game, because there's always somebody to needle, and usually I hear the same thing. "John, you have to pick one!", but no, I don't. To be honest, I pull for all of them. I've lived here long enough that when one of the Florida teams plays someone else, I'll watch and root for the local boys. When they play each other, I just hope for a good game.
So it was with that backround that I actually watched the College World Series this past week/weekend, as the Florida Gators were in it and doing well. (Actually we all did, including my wife, who grew up in Georgia, a self- designated Dawg who usually hates the Gators.) That is something I've never really done before, and I enjoyed it much more than the MLB version of the game. The atmosphere was one of teams, with players pulling for each other, depending on each other, rooting for each other in ways you never see in the major leagues. No matter who won, it made it much more compelling and fun to watch. The Gators made it to the final series and got swept by Texas, which wasn't all that great, but still, they got there. When it's all said and done, my Gator friends are pissed at their team because they got swept by Texas. Me? I'm happy for the team that got as far as the final series. They played some awesome games against Arizona State to get there, and they have nothing to hang their head about. It was fun while it lasted.
John put this out here at 9:07 AM
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