Let's talk about the Gators. Like I've already mentioned, I've been a fan for most of my life. I think the first time we had season tickets I was probably in 7th grade? In the mid-60's we had a pretty hot quarterback named Steve Spurrier. Despite my ex's negativity that he wouldn't, I was confident that he WOULD win the Heisman Trophy - and he did. It was great. I just happened to be a student at the U of F by then.
Well, Steve went off to the pro's and played for a time at the San Francisco 49's. Coincidentally, his "off-season" home was across the street from my best friend, Linda MacRostie's family home. She became Steve and Jerri's primary baby-sitter and actually went with them off to San Francisco for the next season. After a while, Steve was coaching around various places. (My friend Linda stayed in the Bay Area). One happy day in late 1989, it was announced that Steve was coming back to Florida - as "the head ball coach". Things began looking up. Steve declared that playing in "The Swamp" would be something most teams would come to dread. How right he was.
By 1996 Steve led the Gators to their first national championship, with Danny Wuerffel at QB. Danny also won the Heisman that year - and we was the right choice. Not only was he a fantastic ball player, he was a fine young man. Oh, the pride of the Gator Nation.
It became a pretty regular thing for Florida to win out in the SEC. This was a new thing - to expect victory? Those of us who had been around for the 50's and 60's were nervous. Had we not learned to expect our beloved Gators to regularly snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory? Did we not have our perennial mantra - "wait until next year". Now, things were different. We weren't having to wait until next year -for things were happening THIS YEAR. It was a heady time, my friends. Very, very heady.
I had just moved to Tulsa and the Gators were keeping on keeping on - and one day my boss says - you aren't going to believe it, but Steve Spurrier is leaving Florida. WHAT??? What foul demon from Hell had perpretrated this on the Gator Faithful? Well, we had to go through a few ups and downs and then....and then....Urban Meyer was selected to be the General of the troops. Honestly, I hadn't heard that much about him at the time - who watched Utah? Of course, now I know how he trod through ever-increasing levels of coaching, and was well-schooled.
Of course, having great recruiting never hurt the outcome of any team. And, with Steve's charisma and the reputation of the Gators on the ascent, Florida had now become a top college for aspiring gridiron greats. Fast forward to 2006 - and there was a second National Championship. Ok, we can wait to get one every 10 years or so - that's not so bad. But, lo and behold, it happened AGAIN in 2008. (And, I'm not even going to start about the BACK-TO-BACK men's NCAA basketball championships in 2006 and 2007). Oh, the absolute JOY to be a Gator! NIRVANA was ours!
Lest you think me shallow and a fool - I will say that other things were going on in the world in those years - some really bad things like war, famine, tsunamis. Tragic things happened. But, for a member of the Gator Nation, these years have been sweet. Finally, the "Boys from Ol' Florida" were getting the respect and attention we faithful few had always known was their due.
The 2009 Season - wow - to be ranked #1 from the get-go is like printing a picture of a deer on your back and slinking through the underbrush in hunting season. Everyone wants a shot at you, to take you DOWN. As is so typical of our "Boys", they have had some near miss-steps. Yet, here we are with ONE game left in regular play and we are STILL #1. This Saturday, we will meet an old foe, an always formidable adversary, the Hatfields to our McCoys!! Listen up, Gator Nation: WE MUST BE ON OUR GUARD. The Seminole is a wily and devious foe. He is a "dirty fighter" and even though his sun is NOT on the ascent at this time, to lay waste to the "Boys" would be all they need to have a winning season. We must be prepared. We must not fail. We must PRAY!!
Oh yes, I do believe God loves the Gators. Steve Spurrier said so, and I believe him. Is not Danny Wuerffel a preacher? Was Steve's own daddy not a man of God? Is not our own Timothy Tebow one who ministers to prisoners and the ill? Is this all a coincidence - I think not!
Of course, God loves other teams. He must love Notre Dame, who so faithfully study in the Jesuit tradition. What about the Wake Forest 'Demon Deacons'? Aren't deacons amongst the most faithful of any congretation of believers? Well - ok - I'll slightly pull the tongue out of my cheek - but I never fail to pray for the Gators to play their best, to have no injuries and to have a winning game plan.
(BTW, I also utter the following prayer prior to any airplane flight: Dear Lord, please bless this aircraft and every single mechanical, structural, electric, electronic, navigational and hydraulic part to perform exactly as it was designed to do. Give a clear mind and steady hand to the pilot, first officer and to air traffic control here (name current airport) and along the way to (name destination). Thank you for traveling mercies and all the blessings you have bestowed on me all my life. Amen).
So, dear friends, I guess I should SHUT UP for now. God bless you all - and God, Bless the Gators!! Amen.
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