It's Great to be a Florida Gator

I know there are members of the Gator Nation around and as the reigning NCAA football and men's basketball champs, I can't believe there's no devoted thread for my beloved Florida Gators!

Any memories of the national championship game?

Mine include:
I was so excited when the game finally started and then that opening kickoff...

How about their kicker getting a 15 yard face mask penalty? He definitely came to play.

Our first drive was certainly a great way to answer, and they made it look easy.

The defense was great all night with pressure, sacks, and great coverage. We only gave up 1 offensive touchdown and that was helped out by a late hit. This was definitely our best defensive game of the season and it came against the country's best offense.

Yeah, Percy Harvin was down before getting into the endzone, but even if the call had been reversed, you gotta figure Tim Tebow would have powered in from the 1.

I was glad to see DeShawn Wynn play well and get a touchdown as he's an Ohio native and has had a tough senior year.

Chris Leak was terrific. The offensive line gave him time and he seemed to convert every 3rd down. After everything he, and all the seniors, went through, this moment was hard earned and well-deserved.

After a rough season, Chris Hetland was perfect in the SEC and BCS champioship games. His make against Arkansas seemed to really energize the team.

With the score 24-14, that sequence at the end of the 1st half was huge. OSU gets stopped on 4th and 1 from their own 29, we kick a field goal, Troy Smith fumbles on their next series, Tebow hits Bubba for a TD and its 34-14 at halftime.

Even though he plays for the other team, I felt for Troy Smith as he seems like a class act.

Always great to see Emmitt Smith.

Anyone notice Ohio State's band playing the theme from Titanic? Oddly appropriate.

The 2nd half was all defense. Earl Everett's helmet-less sack was awesome.

Its interesting that Urban Meyer won a national championship with mostly Ron Zook's players. Though Meyer did recruit Tebow and Harvin.

The final play was us taking a knee deep in Buckeye territory on 4th down. Great day to be a Gator, just as sweet as 1996 and 2006.


What do you other Gator fans remember from the game? or the season? or basketball's season? Get it in before the haters arrive

 

2006 was definitly good year for Florida sports. We had both Championships in basketball and football. Plus the Heat finally came out on top with the championship. All in all, a very exciting year!




To be quite honest: I'm proud of both of these teams. No one gave them a chance in hell, to win, and it was nice to see them both prove the critics wrong. Even better is that I believe the Gator basketball team has an excellent chance at repeating as National Champions this year again. Last year they were a bit of a surprise...This year there should be no doubt.
The football team as well should be good again next year too.


Plus I have to throw in the Heat... Down two games to the Mavricks... Everyone was already saying it's over. Plus Dallas from what I heard already had the parade and stuff set up... Which I thought was crazy! It was good to see the Heat rebound and take control from there on out... Sorry Mavs no parade in 2006. It was also really good to see Wade carry this team when they needed the crucial plays must. But over all the team was just awesome! All three of these teams just played really well when it matter the must...and my hats off to all of them for stepping it up when it matter the must. To many memories to list...List them later.

 

Gators kick ass, all others lick ass!!!

You people should have seen what it was like in Gainesville that night.

 

I am upset that I missed a party full of liquered up students

 

I'd forgotten about the Heat. That was pretty amazing comeback against the Mavs as everyone thought it was over after game 2. Dwayne Wade sure is fun to watch.

I wish I could have been in Gainesville this week. Has the party ended yet? I was there in 96 and I imagine the feeling is much the same. Interesting how we got help from Ohio State in 96 (and UCLA this year after we beat them in basketball).

This will never get old.

The basketball team won today (against a team that beat us twice last year) and will be ranked number 1 in the next poll. We gotta stay healthy and keep playing with passion.

 

Yeah, being a Gator must be fun. You get to eat people, live in a swamp, and terrorize the sewers and such.

 

I'm still mad that they beat OSU But they're a pretty good (and famous) team.

 

Try telling FSU or the U how great a year 2006 was.

There's a lot more to Florida than UF.

 

Well, given that the thread title says "Florida Gator", I think its pretty clear he's just talking about UF.

I wouldn't be too impressed with that win over SC, btw, we stink

 

When he said 'Florida sports,' he referred to both the UF and Miami's professional sports teams. It's not so clear.

 

Or the Bucs, Dolphins, Marlins, Devil Rays, Heat(thus far, this season), for that matter.

 

Hey, a championship is a championship. Doesn't take away what the Heat did in the springof 2006. And the Marlins actually had a great season. Too bad they play in a region where no one cares about and up and coming young team (even though that atmosphere was created by the team's owner).

 

THE STATE IS OURS!!!!

Just kidding, both FSU and Miami will bounce back. It's always hard to say about pro teams though.

 

It's always great to be a Florida Gator, but it's never been better. I can't believe how lucky I've been to witness two national championships here as a student. I never thought I'd see the day, since my first two years here were during the painful Zook era. And in basketball, we weren't any better.

 

Seriously, this Zook-bashing by people down in Florida looks even more ridiculous now that Meyer won with his guys. You already drove him out of town, at least give him credit for laying a good foundation.

 

[image=http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f161/upsdad/bowden_gator.jpg]
If you want to get FSU back now is the time to remove the current coach.

 

Seriously, this Zook-bashing by people down in Florida looks even more ridiculous now that Meyer won with his guys. You already drove him out of town, at least give him credit for laying a good foundation.

Thank you. Finally someone else agrees with me on this point.

 

I stand by what I said. All in all, it wasn't a bad year for Florida sports. 3 championships in the same year...there's not many states that can say they were champions in 3 major events. It's an awesome feat! However you choose to look at it. An the Marlins, I have no idea what some of you are talking about... They were a big surprise I would say to everyone this year. Including myself. I did not expect them to play this well much less be contending for wild card spot in the last few months of the season. Although a slim chance it was: that's pretty good for a team that lost a lot of key players, in: Carlos Delgado, Josh Beckett, AJ Burnett, and Lusi Castillo (basically the whole team). Plus throw in the fact that Dontrelle did not pitch like he was capable of (this was a young bunch of kids) -- Who played awesome IMO. You ask anybody, and you have to give the Marlins credit. Plus Hanley Ramirez also won the ROY award. Which could have gone to a few Marlins rookies who had awesome seasons. Plus Sanchez threw the only no hitter in 2006. The Marlins had a good year. Anyone who says other wise doesn't know what there talking about. As for FSU and Miami: they'll bounce back. That I have no doubts about. We've always been powerhouses in baseball...look for them to challenge this year... As for the dolphins: Bad moves by ownership were a big part of that disaster. Given full control to that snake Saban was very foolish...one that would bite Wayne dead in his ass...in the end. Plus the injuries to Culpepper and than Ronnie not be able to stay health (along with Miami's horrible offense)... you can't win when you don't have a QB and a running back that can't stay healthy. Hopefully they'll straight things out this offseason, and get things were they need to be. Starting with the offense and QB positions. Not to mention we still need a coach. But I'm a firm believer with the right moves and the right coach: we can get this team turned around. Then there's the Heat: You can't win games when you have both of your superstar players out with injures all the time. It comes down to the Heat being able to stay healthy to contend. We need Wade and Shaq back to win. With out them...we're as good as dead. There's still time though. They just need to get key players back healthy and playing well again. Then let the cards fall were they may.


Plus look out for UF again this year... They could go back-to-back in basketball again this year.



So the Heat won a championship... The UF basketball and football team won championshipes... The Marlins exceed expectations, and FSU was not that bad a football team this year either. Give UM 2 years to rebuild an get things back in order, and will be right back up there again. Plus our baseball programs aren't bad either. So look out for all three UF, UM, and FSU... They should do pretty good this year. Aside from the Dolphins and UM -- all in all, a pretty good year for Florida. You can't win every championship, but to win three in the same year, is pretty awesome!

 

Last Monday the Florida Gators spanked the Ohio State Buckeyes. I had my new Gator icon and now it's gone. One would think that when you win a national title you would be able to display that title for the year.

Who's with me?

Go Gators!!!

 

I agree, I miss my Gator icon.

There's a lot of former Gators still playing in the NFL playoffs. The Patriots have 4 former Gator receivers. Alex Brown and Rex Grossman are on the Bears.

 

Congrats to the Bears and Colts!

The Bears have 4 former Gators: Rex Grossman, Ian Scott, Alex Brown and Todd Johnson.

Should be a great game!

 

Eh, the fact remains that Zook had these guys and continually blew games with championship-caliber athletes. Thank god we ran him out of town, or we would have had two more 8 win seasons.

Not saying he wasn't a great recruiter, and he is a huge reason we won a championship. I'm just saying I'm glad we're not losing to Ole Miss in the Swamp and throwing kegs at frat boys.

 

Finally lost one, although we've had plenty of close calls. Hope this motivates us come tourney time. It won't get any easier.

 

Here's a great article on Joakim Noah.

 

Good article, I don't like Noah but that has more to do with my thinking he's overhyped than any 'bad guy' perception, really.

Congrats on your win tonight, I'm just glad we managed to stay in the game.