SO THAT'S WHY EVERYONE HATES THE GATORS.

To this I say – duh!

What a tool…

Obviously, when Florida was the best team in the conference, teams got excited to beat them. That was a major accomplishment. Now, it’s not that big a deal. Florida is still a worthy apponent, but they have certainly come back to the pack, while others have improved.

I believe that Tooley has over estimated UF’s importance regarding the rest of the league. I’m sure that UGA probably feels most of what he described, but Foley helped us all move past the whole Spurrier/Florida thing when he hired Zook, rendering a proud program a laughing stock. Now Zook is gone, but he has been replaced by a coach who is hard to get too passionate about one way or the other.

Florida is a great school, with excellent facilities, and has some really good teams, but you could say that about more than half of the SEC. And one more thing… for him to act like North Florida isn’t as nednecked as everyone else in the deep south is just funny.

That is why I believe the real reason rests with the jorts… but I will say I’ve seen them on fans from many of the SEC’s finests, including Ole Miss (although not on the women)

LSUfan makes some good points, but the fact is that UF has won the last 14 combined SEC All-Sports trophies- that is a ridiculous amount of domination across the board. While other schools can put up a fight in individual sports, it’s pretty hard to find a sport where UF isn’t going to be in the hunt in the SEC. He is right though on the fact that UF is quite rednecked, but I’d be willing to bet that the median income of UF students is above all but Vanderbilt in the conference. Of course, I’d rather be redneck than from Miami, so I’m cool with that particular label.

That was a waste of my time. Fans of other teams hated Spurrier, not Florida, b/c he won and was arrogant. Tennessee is by far the most hated team in the conference, and it really isn’t close. And BTW, Auburn also wears orange and blue. Does this guy watch sports?

LSUfan, I won’t disagree about redneck North Florida, but most UF students are from Central or South Florida.

Not part of the South? Has he looked at the state flag?

I’d be willing to bet that the median income of UF students is above all but Vanderbilt in the conference.

The Median income of students? Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve never met a student from anywhere who had more than enough money for next weekend. You don’t usually become a millionaire working as a bartender or loading lumber at Lowes, and what ever allowance Mommy and Daddy give you doesn’t hardly cound as your income.

If the girl 5th from the left was wearing jorts.

I wouldn’t mind.

On #4 about the All-Sports trophies. UF is a great athletic department as a whole. They’re good in everything. But they’re not great in anything.

Football- Above average, haven’t sniffed BCS in a long time
Baseball- Went to Final Game last year but sporadic Omaha attendee
Swimming- Auburn kicks their azz all over the pool every year.
Basketball- Good to great, but not dominant.
Chick Basketball- Blah.

I think their success is due to ‘strength in numbers’. They have every sport, mens and womens, and they’re good in everything. They don’t suck in anything. That’s why they win.

Darth,

FYI – a friend of mine that works for a real estate company that builds rental housing in college towns told me that UT students have higher per capita income than students at all other state universities except Arizona State. They built some new digs there and were shocked when students didn’t rent them. UT students prefer to live in old dumps evidently.

What is an all-sports trophy? Am I the only one that has never heard of this or cared? Is it awarded to the school that does well in everything without winning anything? I think my favorite line of the story was “Who wears orange and blue anywhere but to a Gator game?”, has he never been to a cow college game? Pretty sure their colors are orange and blue!

My malice of Florida has lessened now that Spurrier, and their then dominance, has moved on. I do think its true that Florida will always be “a tad different”. Like the gay cousin at a family reunion; you know your supposed to love him, but you don’t want to get very close.

At the risk of hurting the feelings of our UF brothers who like being disliked, I respectfully submit Tennessee has replaced Florida as the most hated program in the SEC. I can’t think of any other fans that give a bloodhound’s behind about the thugs. I know one thing for DAMN SURE, Bama fans genuinely harbor extreme negativity when it comes to foolmer and his spineless spittle.

Jonathan – For those who lift their head out of the single sport of football every once and a while, the All-Sports Championship is well known.

There is also the NCAA Directors’ Cup given to the school nation-wide who has performed best over-all in athletics (Mens and Womens – It’s true, women play sports too). I believe Stanford has won the Cup for 10 straight years. The perenial top contenders are Stanford, UNC, Michigan, UCLA, UF and Texas.

In the ‘04-’05 school year, Florida was the highest ranked SEC school again, finishing 6th, with Georgia 7th and Tennessee 8th. The next SEC school was Auburn at 17th. I believe Florida’s best finish ever was 3rd in ‘01-’02 (Behind Stanford & UT), the best ever for an SEC school.

The idea behind a great athletic program (Instead of just good or decent) is to be well-rounded and successful in many sports, not just football. There is the biggest difference, for example, between Florida & Florida State.

Sooo! Everyone hates the Gators!!!!Usually teams are hated because 1. They play “dirty”.Don`t think thats us.
2. We`re SUCCESSFUL and the haters are jealous!! Hmmm do you think? Or the SI writers just have nothing to do and too much tim to do it!!!!
Anyway. imag8tr fan and loving it !

*Quick correction – UF finished second in the Directors Cup to Stanford in 1997-1998, and Georgia finished second a year later.

And Bamaleg, I personally agree with you. Not much hillbilly love these days.

 Personally, I wrote off any respect for UT after so many of them cried their eyes out to ESPN because of the absolutely CLASSIC Gameday commercial. Some of you know the one – Where the GD crew are staying in the same hotel as UT fans, and the elevator doors open to a posse or rednecks and a little pig jumps out of the big fat woman’s arms, running down the hall squealing… And the woman goes running after the pig yelling “Come back har Rocky Top! Come back!”

If the people of this great website want to be true heros to the masses, they will find a way to rediscover that spot and place it on the site for all great college football fans to enjoy.

Yeah — it feels great to beat Florida (especially for fans of the early 20s persuasion that had to watch the Visor smack people around), but it’s not hate. Tennessee, on the other hand, makes me want to start a jihad.

I’d have to agree with Bamaleg. All SEC fans hate Tennessee.

Bamaleg, I think the article isn’t so much about being hated as being hated as a result of envy. I think you’re totally on that UT might be the most hated program, but it’s not because anyone wants to be a Vol- of course, no one in the SEC would consciously want to be a fan of another school, but I think what Dooley is going for is that Florida is hated because it has what others don’t (as opposed to UT which is hated because they’re completely unlikeable). Hell, even some of the people who hate(d) Spurrier the most admit it was because he was great at what he did- nobody would want to see Fulmer come in to run their program.

The Hack is right Tennessee is without a doubt the most hated school in the conference. That Fat sumbitch they call a coach is the biggest cheater there is. And he’s going to point the finger at other schools and accuse them of doing the exact same shit he has done. I know for a fact Travis Henry can barely read yet he never missed a game. Not to mention the fact he walks around like he some great coach who’s won sooooo many more Championships (SEC or National)
than anyone else. Him and his fat ass daughter’s Can kiss my left nut.

A bunch of people beat me to the punch on this one, but Tennessee does probably beat Florida in terms of being most hated. With Florida you dislike ‘em but you have to respect ’em for their accomplishments; Tennessee, however, inspires no such respect. Also, even when they’re having a comparative off year, Florida’s programs still do well enough to earn a modicum of trash-talk. On the other hand, there hasn’t been nearly as much schadenfreude gloating over UT’s 5-6 football season as I thought there would be, and that’s mainly because deep down we all know that even a sub-.500 disaster probably isn’t enough to shut the Vol fans up about how awesome they’re going to be in ‘06, how they’re coming to get revenge on all our punk asses, etc.

Then again, any program that can inspire some dipshit columnist to write 1,000 words on “Oh, yeah, everyone HATES us! It’s cuz we’re so BADASSSSSSS1” is certainly hateworthy.

I promise I don’t envy Florida.

Bamaleg? You an Alabama booster? I’m not sure how good a promise from a Bama booster is worth.

The funny thing is that everybody hates Tennessee because they are so good at everything. Now they don’t even suck at basketball. Tennessee is sports. Everybody hated Spurrier (and still do) because he’s arrogant and will never shut up. People hate Fulmer for his success. Soon everybody will know how Tennessee will rule the world

I think Dooley left out one key reason: “Walsh is gay”

If Tennessee-hate came in quantities from other sources other than Bammers, it might be worth paying attention to. Considering the reason the Bammers hate us, well, let’s just say, it’s like Jeffrey Dahmer hating the District Attorney.

The state of Florida might not be the traditional South that we all think of but Gainesville is definitely an exception. Gator fans talk with as much drawl as the worst slack-jawed yokel from backwoods Tennessee. What makes them worse than other hicks is that they’re also obnoxious jerks.

Meanwhile, those of us who don’t support one of the factions in this civil war look forward to the year when Vandy represents y’all in the BCS because the other eleven schools have all turned each other in to the NCAA.

The SEC or the West Bank – what’s the hatingest place on Earth?

This is starting to remind me of that “Chappelle’s Show” sketch about the Player Haters’ Ball . . .

“What can I say about Chris Leak that hasn’t already been said about Afghanistan — he looks bombed-out and depleted.”

“The so-called beautiful Ed Orgeron, why don’t you click your heels three times and go back to USC.”

“That was Tommy Tuberville. On the weekends, Tommy Tuberville does stunts for Little Richard in gay movies.”

“I hate you, Steve Spurrier; I hate you, Phil Fulmer; I don’t even know you, Les Miles, and I hate your guts. I hope all the bad things in life happen to you and nobody else but you.”

Basically what he meant to say was…

“Everybody hates Florida because they are Jealous”

Could it be any more plain than that?

Tennessee’s students having the highest average income doesn’t surprise us. It’s a right of passage for Tennesseans from Nashville who attended private high schools to go slum it in Knoxville for a few years before returning to take their jobs in finance, health management, insurance, etc. They wear hunter orange and dance in their own piss at parties, but they’re loaded and living well beyond the adopted squalor.

Real squalor=Starkville.

I’d rather be elected to Congress than root for the Vols.

It seems the stench of hatred for Tennessee is contained mostly in Alabama. The average SEC fan doesn’t appear to HATE Tennessee any more than one could HATE the retarded neighborhood kid who took a dump in your living room.
On the other hand, we all hate the guy who stole your dog, set it one fire, and threw urine on you as you tried to douse the flames. Which is to say, with apologies to UF, I nominate LSU.

And while we’re feeling discursive, a few more points of disagreement with Dooley’s column:

Gainesville is different than much of North Florida. It is part Miami, part Orlando, part fish camp, part entomology experiment, and smells like a rotting bog half the year. The other half of the year it’s decent, but we’ll be fair and say that it’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

Dooley errs, though, when he says most Gainesvillians—or at least Alachua county residents—would turn their nose up at roadkill. Stranko will remember this story, but a friend of the blog, BJ Strykker, lived next to a pair of brothers and their coke-dealin’ mom in a pair of homes both known interchangeably as “The Crack Shacks.” BJ came home after work one day to find the brothers starting a fire in their front yard. Actually, fire may not be the best word: conflagration might be more appropriate here, since the thing was big enough to cook an animal.

An animal…like a deer. That they’d hit. With their car. And then taken home, buried in their yard, and proceeded to cook about a hundred yards off 13th street behind a furniture store. They dug it up later and ate it with pocket knives; BJ gave it rave reviews.

Et tu, Senor Dooley. Alachuans will do them some roadkill just as quickly as Vol fans, though they might differ by pairing it correctly with a Cabernet robust enough to cut the fattiness and faint aroma of burnt rubber in it.

I go by “Bamaleg” and he ask if I am a Bama booster. No, I’m a Vandy backer. I am also uncertain how to respond to how good something is worth.

To Mike, I suggest it’s more like the bankrobber hating the rapist/child molester/hypocritical/in-bred/low-rent/classless piece of snake dung. But that’s just me.

Never have I been prouder to be a child of the great Midwest than I am now, after reading that. Thanks, Orson.

I like the fact that everyone hates UT, I went to UT and hate Fulmer. If I had to pick one school that I hated it would be LSU. Its their fans, when they lose they have every excuse from the refs momma’s sister graduated from (the school that beat them). The whine and cry and everythime they lose the coach needs to be fired. I love to call the Co-National Champions, they’re so damn sorry they can’t in it outright. Now when they win, they love to rub it in. Hell they’ll beat La Tech by 40 and claim they should be #1 in the country. Then they’ll go on talk shows and wonder why they get no respect.

Jealous of what? Do you think a majority of us give a flip about women’s tennis, volleyball and gymnastics, which make about a large portion of UF’s points in the All-Sports calculations.

Yes, Florida is competitive in football,basketball and baseball, so is LSU, so is Alabama, and several others rotate off and on. But one national championship in these major sports doesn’t make you one to be jealous of. Texas, Miami, USC, Ohio State have way better resume there. SEC is way to even among 6 or 7 schools for that.

If Florida is hated its for this very reason, they think they are a hell of a lot better than they are.

Martinis at 8

I am well aware there are sports other than football, and if you notice UGA has a fine history of ranking high in the Director’s cup. My comment was purely intended for the “unofficial” all-sports cup and wondered why anyone cared. Being proud of the Directors cup achievments I can see. You will also notice that in the years UF won the all-sports cup that UGA ended up higher (2001, 99…) in the Directors’ cup, hmmm, sounds fishy.

That said I agree you have to respect UF for their consistent achievments in all sports. The column only succeeded in making me dislike that Dooley.

I am sorry if anyone has already said this but the article wonders who else wears orange and blue. I believe it is another SEC school. Auburn. The author is just as ignorant as UF fans.

I keep hearing how UF is teh suxors, but have yet to read a post suggesting a school with a better all around image when it comes to academics, athletics, weather, eye candy, access to running water, etc.

I admit women’s athletics is about as exciting as Vandy football, but it’s certainly not something we should be panned for when our women compete at or near the top of the SEC on an annual basis.

As a softcore Georgia fan, I’m going to throw one more vote for Tennessee as the most hated program in the conference. Most Georgia fans I know hated Spurrier because he beat them, but could respect him for being an entertaining interview. Plus, his insults towards Ray Goff, which got him into hot water at the time, are now accepted and mimicked by Georgia fans. At the bottom of their souls, I think that Georgia fans (and many SEC fans) have respect for Spurrier for having a new idea, i.e. throw the ball more than ten times per game, and being very successful with it, such that the rest of the conference copied him.

Tennessee, on the other hand, has made no such contribution. The state doesn’t have that much talent, which leads SEC fans to wonder how they’re able to compete on a talent basis. (OK, they don’t wonder; they instead throw around elaborate conspiracy theories. Alabama fans are great at this.) SEC fans could stomach their teams losing to Spurrier because the guy was clearly smart. Losing to Phil Fulmer, a guy who struggles with complete sentences and looks like a State Farm agent, was inexplicable and thus more likely to lead to fits of anger. The fact that UT fans have also decided that Fulmer is apparently an idiot confirms the sense of everyone else that they shouldn’t have been losing to Tennessee.

And don’t underestimate the emotional effects of losing to a team whose band plays the same song 497 times per game. And the song having a line about drinking corn from a jar (which I’m sure the actual UT players can relate to perfectly, since there’s such an overlap between African-Americans and mountain-dwelling moonshiners) only aids the “why the fuck are we losing to this team?” sense.

“Tennessee’s momma has one little titty, and one big titty. They call the bitch Biggie Smalls!” Great Chappelle reference Doug.

I have no labrador in this particular dust-up, but I do have an anecdote that may better illustrate than the hometown homer rag’s column why Florida is detested in some parts of the college sports universe.

I attended the 2000 Final Four in Indy. No particular rooting interest, just had a good friend who lived a few blocks away from the Dome and invited us to come hang out for all the festivities.

The morning of the semifinals, I was at Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indy. At the time, the upper floor of Circle Centre consisted of five or six bars and nightclubs, two of which were hosting all-day alumni gatherings for participating teams (North Carolina and Michigan St., IIRC). A co-worker of mine (MSU grad) invited me to stop by the Spartan gathering for a couple of cold ones, an offer I graciously accepted.

When I arrived on the floor with the parties, I noticed a group of about 30 or so Florida fans walking back and forth in the walkways between the two event entrances. They looked to be mostly of college age to mid-20s. All they were doing was taunting and cursing at the MSU and UNC fans coming and going from these events, throwing in their “Gator Bait” chants for good measure. The taunting was not of the “good-natured” variety.

This was six hours before tip-off.

As one elderly couple emerged in their Carolina-blue sweaters from the UNC event to a couple of the Gator fans yelling in their faces. The Tar Heel fan, a bit startled and a bit bemused, had a response for the ages:

“Son, at least the Duke fans are literate when they give us crap.”

When I returned to the lower levels of the mall and the streets and pubs of downtown Indy that afternoon, I discovered that, unfortunately, the group on the top level was not an isolated incident. It seemed like the Florida fans were on a mission to go out of their way to try and get in the grills of the other three fan-bases in town. In the process, they pissed off a majority of the locals, too. Retiring to a bar full of locals mostly agnostic on the outcomes to watch the games that night, the bar cheered loudly for the Tar Heels. At a table next to us were a bunch of Purdue grads. One of them put it succinctly: “I never cared one way or the other about Florida before, but I hate them after the last two days.”

While I didn’t feel that strongly about it, there certainly was a level of wholesale jackassery on display from the fans in blue in orange that weekend.

No offense to Stranko and Orson, who have single-handedly rehabilitated the image of UF fans in my eyes. And yes, there are idiots in every fan base, no question (there was no shortage of inebriated Wisconsin Badger fans in the Circle City for that Final Four). But I’ve never seen a fan base get so under the collective skins of folks with no rooting interest before.

It wasn’t so much that they were taunting, it was the way they were taunting, y’know? It was less “ha, we’re going to beat you, go team” and more “let’s fight, bitch!”

We’re going to say something that undermines our school-dependent fan credibility here, but we have no idea how UF basketball fans act. We can’t stand the sport and attended one game the entire span of time we were at Florida.

Does that sound like UF football fans? Umm…yes, but only versus Tennessee.

And Florida State… and probably Georgia.

And Auburn. Oh, throw Miami in there, too. And probably South Carolina next year, along with Alabama.

Sense a pattern?

Good point, Orson. And that brings up another pet theory, offered up by the aforementioned MSU grad friend, whilst watching the taunting of the Carolina folk.

“They really think they’re going to a football game, don’t they?”

Papa Lou BSU,

You hit the proverbial nail on the head. It’s not the act but the tone of the act. Having been to UT games in all SEC venues except Vandy and Kentucky which don’t qualify on the football side of the ledger, no where has the heckling been so edgy/over-the-top as in Gainesville. Well Miami was close but my expectations of the immigrant population re: how to behave at a major college sporting event was very low so it was hard to be disappointed.

Every school, including my Vols, has their bad seeds. In Gainesville, though it was wider spread and had such harsh undertones. Even my trips into Bama land in the 80’s when Bama was ruling there were a lot of the good-natured rival folks that shared the appreciation for the southern football experience and mixed in their passion for their team.

I remember when attending a UT/USC game in Columbia recently, the most obnoxious fan on the trip was a Gator fan we came across at a local Columbia bar that night (the Gators were playing UGA). Even the USC baseball team, fresh off a #2 finish in the CWS, treated us to free beer at their Halloween party at a local bar the night before the game. Loved those USC co-eds that were hanging out with the baseball boys, by the way. Oh to be 20 and studly again.

Sounds about right. We blame the drinking, which is heavier and harder than just about anywhere you’ll go. They film COPS in Florida frequently with good reason: alcohol makes people do funny things.

A more accurate statement is that Florida has the arrogance of Notre Dame, and the tradition of, say, Miami. UF has no basketball titles, though football is really the college sport America embraces the most. One championship in 20 years of successful football does not a Notre Dame make, my friend. In fact, Notre Dame has as many championships in the last 20 as UF. These were the glory years for the Gators? Coincidentally, that was the worst stretch Notre Dame has ever experienced. You folks have a loooong way to go. And last check, you don’t even have the best tradition / reputation in state, let alone nationally. Perhaps that’s why you focused on your standing within the SEC as opposed to, I don’t know, the state of Florida? Because it was a convenient way to avoid bringing FSU and Miami into your article. Very clever. But the said truth is that UF is not Miami, and not even FSU.

At least the article got the self-worth part right.

You’re completely right on everything, Knute. Why bother arguing?

Orson’s right with the Fulmer/Mangino heaviness of drinking, but also remember that UF has about 10,000 more students than the next largest university in the SEC (UGA) and has about double the population of places like Bama, Arkansas, Kentucky, etc. I haven’t taken math in a long time, but I know this equation: crowds + alcohol= decent possibility of a problem. I’m not saying this is a good thing, but anybody who’s gone down University Ave. two hours before a 7 p.m. game knows that there is a ridiculous amount of people there.

Yeah, and cocaine’s a helluva drug….

We will say this in defense of Florida fans: there’s nary a chance of actually getting hurt, since drunks have a devil of a time actually landing punches.

I think the hate all comes from the fratastik cockiness that permeates throughout the UF “redneck” fanbase. Every school has a redneck or “darkside” of their fanbase that gives the school a bad name. In my experience, UF just gets under your skin more than others (LSU being a close second). Lord knows, UGA has a great big one, but it lacks the fratastikness of the UF redneck fanbase.

No room to speak of fratastik, Dawg05—Athens is stuffed with curly-haired guys in ballcaps who fit the bill wayyyy more than the bronzer-chugging PKAs of UF.

The word we think you’re looking for is “classless smartass.” Which, from reading this blog, you’ll recognize all too well.

Hmmm… Where to start?
Agreed. UF wins the SEC obnoxious fan trophy with LSU a close second. I have attended football games at several SEC locales. Gainesville simply shows no class. Baton Rouge is full of whisky and rum-filled morons. They show no class wherever they may go.
In my college days in Colorado I also enjoyed some Mountain West and Big Twelve games. Unfortunately, while the football is better back home in the South, the atmosphere is much more pleasant out West. Unless you’re BYU and drawing the ire of fans from all-over, the fans are generally respectful and enjoy seeing a good game.
Having thought it over some more and leaving the regional aspect behind, not even UF is as hated as BYU unless we’re talking about Duke’s basketball team.
Now, if someone could figure out how to channel all the energy and passion for sports into things that matter—education, national security, and a better future for all, we could actually make our elected representatives work for a living for a change.
No, I’m not saying that b/c UK hoops sucks this year, it’s the truth. Former Vandy and USC hoops coach Fogler said it well when he opined that many fans know more about their team’s starting five than they do about ONE of their elected representatives.

Yeah, lord knows I fit the redneck and the obnoxious tag, but I never had to join a frat to get it- maybe I was just naturally that perfect.

Hmmm, could it be…

- Swamp: Considered by many to be the toughest place to play in America
- ODome: Considered by many to be the toughest place to play in America
- Top 5 biggest Universities in the country/top 5 alumni base…means everybody knows a Gator that they talk smack with
- Annually in the hunt for the SEC championship in Football, basketball, baseball, and all the unpopular sports
- Academics: always ranked in the top 50. …most SEC schools are wayyyy down the list
- Annually wins the SEC all-sports crown
- Annually in the top 10 for national all-sports crown
- Had a world famous coach that ran up the score and then made fun of you
- Gets loads of TV coverage
- We live where you vacation…compared to the bible belt, this is paradise
- And living in Florida has another bonus…tan, athletic, hot chicks!

And I don’t get the redneck remarks. In fact, that’s probably another reason why we’re hated…UF students are mostly cocky upper class white jock. Mr bleached jell tips doesn’t exactly get along with Mr Jon Deer and dippin buddies.

I love SEC football, you guys are like our little retarded brothers. We love to be you up, but we hate it when other people even look at you funny.

Go Gators! And I hope you come in second.

Joe’s right on a lot – although the O-Dome ain’t Cameron Indoor.

Knute’s also right on the football standing of UF in the state – the least impressive trophy case of the 3.

Actually, a Google search for “Why Gators Are Hated” produces 60,100 fewer hits than the 60,100 hits he claimed it does. Not even his own page shows up as a hit.

How hilarious is it that in comment 62, where GatorJoe76 says

“And I don’t get the redneck remarks. In fact, that’s probably another reason why we’re hated…UF students are mostly cocky upper class white jock. Mr bleached jell tips doesn’t exactly get along with Mr Jon Deer and dippin buddies”

that he misspells John Deere? I guess it proves his point. I’m still not convinced about the upper class part, though.

Eh, I’ll hate them when they beat Miami. Plus, G’Ville is boring as hell. Everyone I know up there in G’Ville cant wait to come back down to Miami and its great weather, beaches and hot women. So i think the whole location, location, location, arguement….. is gay. Show me someone who prefers to live in G’Ville instead of Miami and I’ll show you a redneck

Or someone who prefers their air lead-free.

You’re right: we haven’t beaten you in three games, yet we really don’t hate Miami fans. We’ll do that when you beat LSU.

Growing up in Jacksonville, it was never UF students/graduates that gave me a negative impression of “Gator fans”. It was the illiterate, Old Milwaukee drankin’, WWF (before the lawsuit) watchin’, I can’t name a player besides Emmit Smith but Gooo Gayturs, Beat Jawja, woo hooooo-types that I hated. Jacksonville in the 1980’s/early ’90’s was a vortex of UF/FSU/Miami/UGA fans, split depending on who (FSU/UM) won the latest NC and who (UF/UGA) won the last Cocktail Party. Pre-Spurrier, UF “fans” (the ones mentioned above, not necessarily students) were the absolute worst at bragging and trash talking with nothing to back it up, ever. Growing up a Domer, I was uniquely able to objectively observe (okay, I wasn’t objective towards Miami, but who was?) Miami fans were/are bandwagon jumpers—one or two losses, and all of a sudden they disappear. UGA fans seemed the most loyal, but maybe that’s because they regularly took it in the shorts every year from UF, so they had to be that way. FSU fans were about average, I guess. No idea how UF fans compare to the rest of the SEC, but their non-student/grad fanbase is just as redneck as anything else I’ve ever seen.

Leave it to someone from Miami to be aware of what is gay. Also, from comment 68, let’s keep one thing straight- yes, FSU has twice the number of MNCs that Florida has. Of course, the grand total of that difference is 1, so the idea that FSU/UM were splitting MNCs at some point just isn’t true.

Italian, forgive me for not going back to the actual records, but the majority of those years the reason FSU wasn’t in the NC game was because of losses to Miami. So while they weren’t trading NC’s (FSU’s first was 1993 cough 31-24 cough), they were a wide right/left/wide right II or so away from competing for the NC every year. Each year they were a pre-season #1 or #2 and were playing in New Year’s Day bowls. UF’s greatest claims were usually beating a very average UGA team. The point wasn’t that FSU is better/has more NC’s than UF, it’s that year to year (this is PRE-SPURRIER) they were in the hunt, and UF was not. Yet UF fans (not grads/students/anyone affiliated with the school, necessarily—I want to stress that), in my experience, talked 4 times as much smack over about 5 times less results. Now, if you really want to go into it, I suppose you could argue that FSU as an Independent may have had an easier time than UF did competing in the SEC, but then you’d have to go back and look at the schedules from the 80’s, and I really don’t care all that much. Bottomline, the impression I got from them was that they’d talk shit about an opponent all season, only to lose to them. And when they won, oh lord—there was no end to it. You wouldn’t really get an FSU/Miami fan bringing up the game from September in June. UF fans would remind you every day if their team beat yours, even if they’d lost the previous 10 in a row to your team. However, if they lost, they couldn’t take anyone talking about them. Fragile redneck egos.

Again, I stress—just my experience with UF fans not necessarily having any real connection with the actual University. Not meant to be a sweeping statement about UF fans.

It’s not just MNC’s. It’s trophies….look at bowl games, especially major bowl games. Heck, we won the Sugar Bowl before UF.

So if I’m to understand point number 4 correctly, 10 years of football (give or take whatever you want) equals a hallowed tradition? The way Dooley framed this piece basically concedes that anything prior to the Spurrier Era was unbefitting of being considered noteworthy.

GatorJoe76,

Thanks for the wonderful one sided summation of why we should all kiss UF’s butt, just wanted to let you know that many of us view UF as the annoying guy no one actually likes, but you have to keep him around cause he makes you look good in comparison. As for your list:

- Swamp not even toughest place to play in its own conference.
- ODome: who considers it the toughest place to play? No seriously who??
- Annually in the hunt for the SEC championship in Football, basketball, baseball, and all the unpopular sports really in the hunt for all the unpopular sports?? gymnastics swimming?
- Academics: always ranked in the top 50. …most SEC schools are wayyyy down the list most what about Vandy? UGA is only 8 back, I’m pretty sure AU is like 15 back, yeah thats lots
- Annually wins the SEC all-sports crown, congrats, no I mean it really
- Had a world famous coach that ran up the score and then made fun of you give you that one
- Gets loads of TV coverage jsut like the rest of the SEC
- The last two I will give you, but there are two schools in the SEC rated higher by SI and ESPN for coeds.

Sorry about the length, but stating broad single sided statements needs a response.

Of course Orson and Stranko not included in the actually liked comment, but then again they can objectively (somewhat) look at the other schools.

Hey, I’m from Kentucky. We won something … once.
Usta even have a basketball coach who could recruit ….
There’s always baseball, right?
Vanderbilt can’t have ALL the skeletal girls….

Bright orange shirts and tight blue britches…go to heck you sons of …

well thats what we used to sing…

there is no doubt that steve spurrier said what every uga fan wanted to say…lol…and boy did he win???

…i think it was 94 when the gator bowl was 32 degrees for the uga uf game…i froze rather than wear my aunts gator gear…thats just how i felt…???

cockiness is great when u win…but boy if u dont…u stand to look a bit foolish…

go dawgs =D

and uh…i say again…bright orange suvs with screaming blue trim????? ew

I’m in Australia, and now hate UF because of this shitty blog.

Don’t blame the blog… we all know it is really the jorts.

Shitty…mmm. Hurts so good. And we thought we were mediocre. “Shitty” has a kind of grandeur to it.

Way to go guys! “Shitty” is usually reserved for heads of state or the richest kings of Europe.

Way better than crappy. They usually reserve that for third-world nations and countries that have one Olympic representative.

Dooley’s article was retarded, but, I can attest that I have received much abuse from my Harvard – Princeton – Ivy League coworkers, not to mention Bama, Gawja, FSU and LSU idiots.

Pure and simple: they don’t understand how or why a fan base is as enthusiastic about everything Gator as the Gator fans are. Our enthusiasm is labelled as arrogance. For what it’s worth, Gator fans embrace the University and it’s sports programs. If you want to call that arrogance, go ahead. Just proves to me you don’t use words correctly.

And may I say, the student and alumni populations at UF have traditionally NOT been redneck, but rather upper to middle upper class, intelligent, and successful in their professions. THAT’S HOW WE CAN AFFORD TO KEEP BUILDING OUR AWESOME FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS, FOLKS.

Gloria,

Can I refer to the last paragraph as arrogance? Would that be the correct word use? I would also like to add that almost all students embrace their universities and teams, it is the die hard belief you have that A) your facilities are better than all the others, and B) that your teams are inherently better than everyone else’s teams that causes people to use the term arrogance. You may just want to read/listen to the comments before you decide it’s the enthusiasm some criticize. But then again deciding you know what someone else is saying without listening/reading is arrogance too, so I shouldn’t expect anything else right?

In what rapidly devolved into a cheap “smack” thread? Probably not.

The one thing Florida fans can claim over other teams—being as objective as we possibly can here-is the enthusiasm of youth, since Florida skews younger than any other team in its region. One byproduct of not having much of a tradition comes with the ability of the youngish alumni section to stand up without rupturing disks.

Jonathan –
My, my aren’t we testy.

I did not say in this post that our facilities were better than all others, and you will not hear me say that. I merely said they were awesome, and meant it in a collective sense. I’ve visited many college campuses, and overall, Florida’s facilities are well above-average.

I also never said in this post that our teams were better than all others, and you will not ever hear me say that.

So how does that make me arrogant?

You know, in many years I have never heard co-fans of my acquaintance ever say we were better than everyone else. If there are Florida fans out there who literally say that, then yes, they deserve your derision. I agree that there are many college sports fans who are loyal to their schools. Shouldn’t they all be?

I’m responding to posters who continue to characterize Florida fans as jorts-wearing rednecks and to those who say all Florida fans are arrogant. I disagree, that’s all. Doesn’t make me arrogant to disagree.

I use to go sit in the (empty) North end zone of the Florida Field( before the hyperbole of the “Swamp” arrived)as a kid and watch the mighty Gators of Gaffney, DuBose etc.. play very mediocre football.No sellouts here… Went to Alligator Alley and sat in a a half filled 5,000 seat basketball gym. ……Where were all the people who “hated” Florida then. There were none————— because nobody cared about them!!!

The real reason Florida has been so succesful is the growth of the state.

You don’t have to go back very far, say the early to mid 80’s, and with all of the population and resources in the state of Florida, there was only one serious football/athletic school, The U o F. It was that way for DECADES, yet where was the success then??

About that time, FSU was just transitioning to the power they became under Booby Bowden(an all girls school forever), and Miami under Schnellenberger, was just coming of age as well, and then WOOSH!! They both flew past the Boys of Ol’ Florida. Nobody cared about them still…

They really can’t stand to be reminded of that! Thats what really gets under their skin!

Jonathan (Post 73), here’s to you…

(1) In 1996, The Sporting News ranked Florida as the best college crowd and also named Florida Field as the nation’s loudest stadium.

(2) The Atlanta Journal Constitution called the Swamp “the loudest, most obnoxious and notorious piece of real estate in all of college football.” Quite a compliment, coming from those Dawgs in Georgia.

Rather than consulting an Atlas, I’ll save you some time, Atlanta is located in Georgia.

(3) ABC football analyst Bob Griese said, " I rank Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field as the nation’s toughest stadium. ‘The Swamp’ is deafening."

Bob went to Purdue. His son, Brian, went to Michigan (@110,00 in Mich. Stadium)

(4) Play Station Magazine: Crowd noise is a big factor in NCAA 2005. What would you say the loudest stadiums are?

Lee Corso: I think Autzen Stadium. Per person, the Oregon stadium is the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. The fact that it’s so low to the ground doesn’t allow the sound to escape. Michigan’s stadium is not very loud because the sound goes right out.

KH I would say No. 1 for me is The Swamp, ever since they’ve renovated the stadium. We went to last year’s Florida-Florida State game, and I don’t think I’ve been to a louder stadium since. They get their student body right there behind the visitor, and the crowd noise stays in that stadium.

Herbstreit was a Buckeye.

My blog has been called “crappy,” “commie,” “dumbass,” “moonbat,” “dumb,” “waste of time,” and “traitorous,” among various other things — but never “shitty.”

Dammit . . . Dooley was right. I really am jealous of you guys now. Hence I just hate you all the more! Fuck you guys!

Philly Gator,
Putting aside how silly it is to refer to Corso or EA for support of your point. I don’t think many sane people dispute that the Swamp is a mighty tough/intimidating place to play. But in the end it is, in the end, a matter of opinion.

But that 2nd point about the basketball arena is rather silly as well.

Moin,

Allow me to explain how a debate/argument works. Someone makes a comment (See post 73 “Swamp not even toughest place to play in its own conference”).

After said comment is made, there is a chance for rebuttal (See post 86). In orer to strengthen one’s rebuttal, it helps to use opinions of those not directly related/associated with your school. This is known as an unbiased opinion.

Also, when you go back, you’ll see that Lee Corso named Autzen Stadium as the loudest. Herbstreit listed Florida. Seriously, go back and check it. This is called reading.

Finally, Vitale has gone on record several times saying the O’Dome is “one of” the toughest places to say, but I digress.

BTW, thanks for the advice and explaining the concept of an opinion for me. I look forward to future insightful posts.

Gloria,

Testy?, not so much. The smiling really doesn’t come through in this. Just thought I might point out the one sided interpretation of the animosity towards UF.

Orson,

How did you know I was cheap? oh wait you meant the thread! I do have to agree to the youth (I think that may be a good thing being UGA grad. and not having it)

Philly Gator,

I like your use of quotes to support your argument about opinion (I still think Death Valley), however referring to the AJC as Dawgs will get you into a lot of trouble here in Atlanta (where I happen to live, but thanks for the geography lesson it surely helped me fill out my address, I’ve always been stuck on that State part.) I do however have one major correction…. Herbstreit is a buckeye, not was.

Actually Philly,
You should realize that this particular line of argument started out in post #68 (I suggest you follow your own advice and “read” it, it’s quite a laugher). You know, how #73 kind of half different type fonts for certain things? Well, you are more than welcome to rebut his rebuttal, but his rebuttal consisted of slightly more than one point. I would list them for you but that would be an insult to your vast debate/reading skills so I won’t, you can go ahead and read them yourself. I basically agreed with you that his point about the Swamp was, at best, dubious (but some people definitely think that Death Valley or Jordan-Hare or Sanford are tougher). I’m glad you felt so empowered by my agreement, but I was just pointing out that the other points of #73 are fair points.

I do like how you concentrated on the part where I, wrongfully, made a point about Corso but conveniently ignored what I said about EA. Or, like, how I pretty much agree with you that the Swamp is one of the toughest places to play. But then, of course, you go and pull out the ol’reliable Dickie V. Well, how can I argue with a man who thinks that Quinn Snyder is just a good coach who caught some bad breaks?

By the way, thanks for the random bit of antagonism there, I really wanted some of that with my daily helping of college football humour. But of course, you are from Philly so I guess I was stupid to expect anything less from you.

Or rather, started at #62. So you see, I can’t count either.

Moin,

Again, thanks for the heads up. The only question I have is why would I reference posts that I agree with? Rather, I was making a comment about a post I took umbrage with (toughest stadium to play in).

I guess I should thank you for keeping the debtate in the same thread, as opposed to referencing some inane stadium argument several months back. Kudos to you.

Also, I didn’t know there was a heirarchy when it came to acceptable and non-acceptable sources. I suppose if Sports Illustrated had interviewed Corso and Herbstreit as to which stadiums they felt were the loudest, their answers would have been entirely different.

In closing, it must be convenient to take pot shots at other’s opinions, without any of your own. Perhaps if you were to bestow us underlings some of your incisive musings, we would be able to counter. Better to hide back in the shadows, without risking embarrassment, or heaven forbid, a disagreement.

And citing Vitale was way off on my part. He knows absolutely nothing when it comes to college basketball stadiums/environments.

Great shot at Philly. Nothing like a city-wide generalization to show off that clever wit of yours.

Well, you fit the stereotype to the T so it wasn’t really a generalization of the city, more of an observation of you and how well you fit into that stereotype.

And did I take a pot shot at you or your opinion in my first response to you? I didn’t know saying that agreeing with the gist of your post is now considered a “pot shot” these days. I agreed with your opinion and then said the other parts of the post you that you were trying to rebutt had valid points. Funny how I can share the same opinion as you without actually having an opinion and still get harassed by you. I guess I’m just talented that way.

And Dickie V doesn’t know anything about anything. Well, actually, I take that back. I agree with his opinion on the Jimmy V. Foundation and the supremacy of ACC basketball, but that’s about it. I wouldn’t take anything he said about how great any particular school is seriously at all (there are no losers in Dickie World baby!).

The Swamp is loud!!! Philly sucks!!! Go to post _ (insert random #), then hop over to _ (repeat same), then finish it up with __ (ad nauseum) from so and so, and that proves my point.

I get it, you offer no opinion on loudest stadiums, preferable metropolitan areas, reliable sports sources or anything else for that matter. Thanks for the worthless banter. Perhaps if you enlightened me as to your favorite team or the magnificent burg you hail from, I would be able to have more fun with this thread. As it stands, it’s becoming tiresome.

Tiresome because your initial antagonism towards me now seems grossly misplaced and stupid? Even to yourself? And I like how you just made fun of yourself (oh well, I guess I’ll just ignore the fact that you were the one who first told me to refer to another post to better understand the concept of an argument/debate).

Oh yes, there is a hiearchy of acceptable sources of opinions. For example: if you gave me a quote by Ron Jaworski about the play of McNabb, I’d be much more receptive to that point of view than, say, had you quoted Rush Limbaugh, Terrell Owens, or the President of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP. But then again, maybe I’m just strange that way.

I’ve put it as simply as I thought possible. Do you have a favorite team? Do you live in a town recognized by an Atlas? Apparently you’re “talented that way” in avoiding questions or “strange that way” in being devoid of any personal opinion (i.e. not something gleaned from someone else).

Sources not meeting Moin’s Mandate: 4
Sources Moin Approves Of: 0
Cities Not Measuring Up For Moin: 1
Cities Moin Approves Of: 0
Teams Moin Mars: 1
Teams Moin Approves Of: 0

When you decide to offer something up, we’ll resume. Until then, “I’m bored that way.”

A UGA student, Gator hater, and more knowledgeable person than all the rest of you has this to say:
The University of Georgia’s students come from the highest income families of any public institution, as of 2003. So, no, we aren’t loading lumber at Lowe’s or tending bar, we’re going out, spending our parents’ money, and enjoying the life that we get to live. We’re sorry that you don’t, but, well, nevermind. We really don’t care.
If anyone has a monopoly on unwarranted arrogance, it’s Auburn. They think they are better than everyone when they only need to sniff 900 on the SAT to get in. The above poster mentions Auburn dominating the Gators in the pool…UGA might have a few SEC and National Championships to argue with.
Which leads to the perception that we hate Florida because the UF Athletic Association is better than ours. Who thinks this? Yeah, I get tired of losing in football to obviously inferior teams. The trips to Atlanta don’t get old though, and UGA can toe-to-toe with any athletic program in the country. We even win equestrian NC’s.
The colors ARE pretty ugly, but so are Auburn’s, Tennessee’s, Vandy’s, LSU’s, and all of the maroon teams in the west (plus Carolina). I guess we missed the memo that said ugly colors were something to be proud of in the SEC.
Maybe Ole Miss is upset that Florida isn’t really “the south,” but I don’t think anyone else cares. And besides, I don’t think that the home of the biggest NASCAR race in the world can get out of being called redneck. Sorry Florida, but your poor dumb rednecks are just as plentiful as anyone else’s.
I wonder if this embracing of hatred is just the fruition of a great inferiority complex that has set in down in Gainesville since the football team started losing 4 games a year. I don’t hate Florida for any of the reasons that were mentioned in that article. I hate Florida because it is Florida, and that is what any self-respecting human being would do. I hate Florida like you hate Osama Bin Laden. I hate Florida in the same way that you hate cancer. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Gator Nation.

I’m sorry Philly, but what does my favorite team or where I’m from has to do with your uncalled for animosity? Are you trying to justify acting like a douchebag by using the fact that I had the audacity to agree with you about something by saying that I deserved it by not prefacing my agreement with: “My favorite team is ______, I live in ______”?

Hey, I can do this list thing too:
Sources of Opinions not Worthy of Moin: quite alot more than 4 (But hey, if you want to rely on Dickie V for your college basketball knowledge, go ahead.)
Sources of Opinions Moin Approves Of: not many, like, a handful at most.
Sources that Philly Gator Has Cited that Moin Has Dismissed: 2 (Yeah, only 2: Dickie V and EA, those bastions of integrity in sports journalism.)
Teams Moin Has Actually Marred: None so far. By the way, which team did I allegedly mar? Certainly not UF. (“Teams Moin Mars”, I also like the alternative reading here, that is the teams that “moins” the planet Mars. Frankly, I think every team “moins” the planet Mars.)

We’re going to clarify this with a post about every SEC team’s worst fans and settle the matter once and for all.

Florida Fans: Highlife guzzling, Jean-short wearin’ Rednecks
Tennessee: Hillbilly, toothless, duece and half Rednecks
South Carolina: Inferiority complex havin’, concrete junlge Rednecks
Georgia: Hershel-lovin, fratastic suburban Rednecks
LSU: Coonass, corn-dog smellin’, fanatically (like jihad) crazy Rednecks
Bama: Bear worshippin’, superiority complex, bear-gutted Rednecks
Auburn: Slighlty dumber fratastic suburban Atlanta Redneck
Ole Miss: Fine China Rednecks
Arkansas: Shoe-less pig wrastlin Rednecks
Kentucky/Miss State: Blue grass smokin Rednecks
Vandy: Pretenious rich Rednecks

Does that cover them all?

Some fine work, Greg. That’s pretty accurate, though we’ll be honest: we’re scared to death of whomever roots for Miss. State.

Do we really drink that much Highlife? My group was always in for Busch Light in a Can (and Natty Ice, the eternal party-starter).

Icehouse was endemic in our day—cheap and potent.

“I don’t hate Florida for any of the reasons that were mentioned in that article. I hate Florida because it is Florida, and that is what any self-respecting human being would do. I hate Florida like you hate Osama Bin Laden. I hate Florida in the same way that you hate cancer. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Gator Nation.”

Cody, you probably hate Florida because, I dont know, we dominate you year-end and year-out. Florida has a tendency to piss off Georgia fans because They still havent figured a way out of getting their asses handed to them by the Gators. Enjoy losing to us, dawgs (dumbass georgian way of pronouncing dogs).

Wow….and to think I used to like the Gators if for no other reason than they beat the crap out of the Bulldogs every year.

This guy is as retarded as the leghumper Dooley. From here on out go Dawgs, Go Noles. Party nekkid

To those thinking BBall and Fball are not among the nation’s elite (i.e. jonathan). ESPN just ranked UF basketball #5 in “toughest places to play” and CNNSI just ranked us #13 in “best student sections.” And for about a decade now the Swamp has been #1 or #2 in every credible ranking.

Hate us all you want, but we’re the team that gets “upset,” not the other way around.