Something Nice - Florida As a student at the University of Florida, I spent as much time at Florida Field as anywhere in Gainesville. The College of Journalism was pretty much directly across the street, so during breaks I'd stroll over, find a seat and read the student newspaper, re-write my class notes or just sit there and bask in the glorious north Florida sun. During the football season, I'd make my weekly appearance at the Sports Information office for a copy of that week's press release (much better then a program, plus it was free). Other times I'd find myself at the UF ticket office where the 1984 SEC Championship trophy, Steve Spurrier's Heisman and the 1984 NY Times National Championship trophy are all housed (Yes the '84 SEC trophy is in Gainesville, and in the interest of preserving the "Something Nice" theme I've got going here, I'll not get in to the whole 1984 story). After I'd stared at these treasures for awhile, I'd sneak up to the skyboxes and enjoy the view of Gainesville. On the weekends I'd be there kicking field goals or playing touch football (this was in the days of artificial turf and you were allowed to go on the field). In the evenings, I'd attempt to run it's steps. Occasionally after the bars closed, I'd stumble over with a few friends and hop over the old north endzone gates. We wouldn't stay long. Just long enough to soak in some atmosphere and wish like hell it was football season. Florida Field was like a magnet to me. And you know what? Ten years later, it still is. SOMETHING NICE PART 13 (Florida) The late 1920's weren't a very good time for the state of Florida. The land boom collapsed in 1926, the Mediterranean fruit fly put a major dent in the citrus business and coupled with hurricanes in '26 and '28, the state's financial resources were stretched to the limit. In their book "Gator History", Samuel Pactor and Wright Langley write this about the state's economic situation: "In December 1928, Tigert (John Tigert, the school's president) was told there could be no more supplies or equipment purchased that fiscal year unless they were absolutely necessary to run the institution. All travel was prohibited, and in order to continue paying salaries, payment of many other bills had to be postponed. As economic conditions worsened, Tallahassee ordered all state agencies, including the University of Florida, to reduce their budgets again" Tigert took all this to heart, then decided to build a football stadium. On November 8, 1930, at the cost of $118,215.80, 22,000 seat Florida Field opened as the Gators took on the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Dedication Day ceremonies were attended by both Florida's and Alabama's governors. Red Barber, a UF student at the time, called the play-by-play. Four years later the stadium was officially dedicated to the memory of Florida service men who died during WWI. Though temporary bleachers were installed in various locations around the field, it wasn't until 1950, that the stadium got its first legitimate expansion. 11,200 seats were added to the west side, bringing the capacity to over 40,000. That same year, the first night game was played (coincidentally the game was against this year's opening day patsie, The Citadel). By the mid-60's, Florida football was reaching unprecedented heights (at least by Gator standards) and the need to enlarge Florida Field couldn't be ignored. By the start of the 1966 season, 10,000 seats were added to it's east side and the temporary bleachers were moved to the south end zone. For Steve Spurrier's Heisman trophy season, Florida Field could hold 62,800. With the exception of artificial turf being installed in 1971, nothing much happened to the place until the late 1970's. That's when Charley Pell was hired away from Clemson to coach the sagging UF program. When Pell showed up in Gainesville he must've thought he'd just had an April Fool's Day joke played on him. Even though Florida Field held close to 63,000, it was in terrible shape. The weight room, the pressbox and the lockerooms were an embarrassment for a school the size of Florida. Pell knew he had to make upgrades, but he didn't know where to turn for money. In his book "Down Where The Old Gators Play", Buddy Martin tells the story of Charley's first benefactor: "It was Dave Thomas, owner of Wendy's who made the first big contribution to Florida under the Pell regime. Dave's daughter, Wendy, after whom the chain is named, was a student at Florida. 'Mr. Thomas asked me how he could help,' recalls Pell. 'I told him our weight room was about on par with most big high schools. He asked me how much it would take to fix it and I told him $50,000. He swallowed hard, and said 'you got it.'" Pell's biggest benefactor was a fellow named Ben Hill Griffin. Griffin was a big player in the state's citrus business and it was his $25 million donation that really got things rolling in Gainesville (Griffin would continue donating huge sums of money to the university until his death in the early 90's. In 1989 the stadium was re-named in his honor). In the early 1980's skyboxes, a modern pressbox, and an athletic training center were all added. The crown jewel of the improvements during this period was the newly enclosed south end zone. Prior to '82, the south endzone had only temporary bleachers. But starting with the first game of the 1982 season (a stirring last minute win over the hated Miami Hurricanes) 17,587 permanent seats were added. Florida Field could now hold 72,000 rabid Gator fans. As soon as the south end zone was complete, all eyes turned to the north side. It didn't take but a couple of years for plans to be drawn for its expansion. At first I was against doing anything to the north end zone. I thought it was the prettiest part of Florida Field. The stadium is built in to the ground so the top of the north end zone was even with street level. A brick wall stretched across the stadium at this point and inside the wall was a scroll with the names of all Florida men who died during the first World War. Just inside the wall and underneath a large scoreboard, was one of the best kept secrets of Florida Field. At the 1960 Gator Growl (a student run pep rally the night before the homecoming game) a bell from the battleship, U.S.S Florida, was presented to the university and mounted in the north end zone. One of my favorite tricks was to ring the bell and scare the hell out of anyone in the stadium. The bell was kind of tucked up under the scoreboard so you could ring the thing without anyone really seeing you. The ringing, coupled with the echo an empty stadium could make, really made for a loud noise (and would startle the living daylights of anyone within the confines of the stadium). In 1990 Steve Spurrier returned to Gainesville and promptly had the artificial turf removed from Florida Field (even though it was recently re-surfaced just two years earlier). And in 1991, at the cost of $17 million (non-state funded, mind you) a new north end zone opened. It brought luxury boxes and many more seats. Attendance at Florida games now is regularly over 85,000. The bell was removed from it's spot under the old scoreboard and is now inside the north end zone concourse (where I go by and tap it with my school ring before every game for good luck). As for the scroll that was inside the wall? I don't know where it ended up. I'd hope it's still in the stadium somewhere. One of the more bizarre traditions at Florida Field is something called "Kamikaze Halftime". Here's how it works: You can leave the stadium at halftime (and go to your car, go to a bar or go to a movie if you want), and they'll let you back in. A bar a few blocks from the stadium started taking advantage of this and began offering "Kamikazes" for a buck and pitchers of beer for $2.50 (at least that's what the prices were eight years ago when I last did one of these runs). Personally I've given up this tradition. I can only make it to one or two Gator games a year and I'm not going to miss a single minute of it, so I can stand in a crowded, puke smelling, sweaty, smoke-filled bar (I can do that after the game). I could sit here for a week talking about great games played at Florida Field, but I've decided to limit the this section to just four games: -GEORGIA TECH 1960 Dodd vs. Dodd. Dodd vs. Graves. Jackets vs. Gators. In just his third game as Gator head coach, Ray Graves was pitted against his mentor, Tech's coach Bobby Dodd. To make things even more interesting, Bobby Dodd Jr. was a quarterback for Florida. It was son versus father and student versus teacher. Before the game Mrs. Bobby Dodd Sr. was asked who she was rooting for, "I hope Bobby Jr plays well, but I also hope Tech beats the heck out of Florida" she replied) The Gators trailed the 10th ranked Jackets 17-10 mid-way through the fourth quarter, but starting from their own 15, they began to mount a drive that would take them inside the Tech five yard line. Facing a 4th and goal from the four and less then a minute left, Gator quarterback Larry Libertore ran an option play and pitched the ball to Lindy Infante who just managed to make it across the goal. Graves didn't hesitate as he made the call to go for two. Tech was looking for another run, but the Gators fooled them and Libertore was able to hit a wide open Jon MacBeth for the conversion, and the Gator victory. -AUBURN 1966 This game should've never come down to a last second field goal. The Gators were undefeated and ranked 7th, while Auburn was a mediocre 3-3. Aided by a kickoff return for a touchdown and a 91 yard Gusty Yearout (who makes my list of all-time great SEC names) fumble recovery for a touchdown, Auburn was able to hang with the Gators. With just a few minutes left, the game was tied 27-27. UF faced a fourth and long. Steve Spurrier called time out and came over to the sidelines. Coach Graves had a dilemma on his hands. Should he try a field goal even though the 40 yard kick was out of range for Gator kicker Wayne Barfield? Or should he go for it? It was at this moment that Spurrier offered to kick. Graves thought a second and sent Steve in to try to win the game (Spurrier had already punted five times this day for a 47 yard average and was 27-40 for 259 yards passing. Graves probably thought what the heck, he's done everything else today) Over on the Auburn sidelines a Tiger assistant told Auburn head coach Shug Jordan that it was probably a fake. "You'd better hope it's a fake. Cause he'll make it" Jordan barked. Ol' Shug was right. The kick not only won the game for the Gators it probably won the Heisman for Spurrier. -AUBURN 1986 The '86 UF/AU game was similar to the '66 battle, but it was the Gators who had no business being in such a tight contest. Auburn came in to the game undefeated and ranked 5th. The Tigers had killed every team they'd faced so far that season. UF on the other hand was only 3-4 (with the wins coming over Georgia Southern, Kent State and Rutgers). Auburn should have killed the Gators, but in what makes rivalry games like this so special, odd things happened. Things didn't start off well for Florida. Here's a breakdown of the UF first half: -In the first quarter Auburn ran 26 plays to the Gators' 8. -Out of UF's 8 first quarter plays, one was an interception and two were fumbles. -The Gators didn't get a first down until the second quarter and that possession ended in a UF fumble. -Florida committed six first half turnovers. When halftime rolled around, the Gators were lucky to be down only 14-0. The third quarter wasn't much better for UF and as it ended, the Tigers had upped their lead to 17-0. The final quarter would be a little different. Kerwin Bell scored on a quarterback keeper at the 11:55 mark to give the Gators their first points of the afternoon. The Gator defense held and after a short drive, UF kicker Robert McGinty lined up to try a 51 yard kick. McGinty, a transfer from Auburn, was told by Dye after he missed a game winning field goal for the Tigers in the '84 Alabama game (the Wrong Way Bo game) that he no longer fit in the team's plans and should think about going elsewhere (even though he kicked a 49 yarder for Auburn's only points in the '84 UF game). McGinty got his revenge as the kick was good and with 7:10 left, the Gators were alive, down only 17- 10. Florida Field was going nuts, but the Tigers calmed things down by holding on to the ball for the next five minutes. It was beginning to look like the Gators would not get the ball back. But now it was time for something odd to happen. Webby Burnnett recovered a Reggie Ware fumble and the Gators were in business with 1:41 left. How the Gators managed to drive 66 yards down the field and win the game is beyond me. Here's the drive in a nutshell: -Bell grabbed by the facemask. 15 yard penalty against Auburn. -Incomplete pass. -Bell flings the ball in the general vicinity of Octavius Gould who somehow comes up with the ball and picks up 11 yards. -As he's being tackled, Bell throws a another "prayer" this time to Darrell Woulard who picks up 13 yards and then fumbles (fortunately the ball rolls out of bounds). :56 remaining. -5 yard illegal procedure penalty against UF -25 yard completion to Ricky Nattiel (who's playing with a separated shoulder). The pass to Nattiel put the Gators on the Auburn five and two plays later Bell found Nattiel in the endzone for the score. Trailing 17-16, the game was strangely reminiscent of the 1960 Ga. Tech game (in fact former UF coach Ray Graves was watching the game from the Florida sidelines). Like the Tech game 26 years earlier, UF decided to go for two. Bell dropped back and looking to pass, found no receivers open, so he decided to run. Run he did, gimpy knee and all, he ran right in to Gator lore (and the endzone) for the Gators first lead of the day. But the game wasn't over yet (remember this is Auburn we're talking about). The Tigers returned the kickoff to mid-field and after a completed pass, the Tigers were lining up for a 53 yard field goal, but Chris Knapp's kick was short and UF had one of its greatest wins ever (I wonder if Knapp fit in to Auburn's plans the next year?). -FLORIDA STATE 1997 The Seminoles were undefeated and ranked number one when they came to the Swamp last season. There's no "good blood" to start with when it comes to the Gators and Noles, but the Semis didn't help matters when they started doing one of their latest traditions. At road games in '97, during warm-ups, the Noles had started stomping on the home teams logo that was painted on the field. St Bob (Patron Saint of sweat stains) did his normal "look they other way" routine all season long during this ritual. The Gators didn't look the other way and started pushing and shoving the no-class Semis off the "F" at the center of Florida Field. This started "a fight" that didn't end until the last seconds of the game. After trading leads all afternoon, the Gators found themselves trailing 29-25 with just over two minutes remaining. But miraculously, UF scored in only three plays and when Dwayne Thomas picked off a Thad Busby pass in the game's final seconds, the Gators had an upset win that set-off a celebration Florida Field may have never seen before (and knocked Fsu out of a chance for the national championship for the third straight year). As great as these games were, my greatest Gator game at Florida Field has yet to happen. It's still a couple of years away and more then likely it won't be against an opponent like Tennessee or Florida State. It will probably be against North, East, Western Louisiana Tech. And you know what? It won't matter. The greatest moment ever for me at Florida Field, will be the day I take my son there for the first time. I can't wait to see his eyes when he walks in and sees 85,000 people or when he hears "Heeeeeeeeeeeere come the Gators!". I want to sing "We are the boys" with him and I want to get his picture with Albert. But mostly I just want him to experience first hand the overwhelming joy that a college football game can bring. I'm no writer, I just hope with this series I was able to give you some insight in to the "homes" of our fellow SEC schools. I'm just an average guy who loves his school. I also love the SEC. We are truly blessed to be part of the Southeastern Conference. I've enjoyed college football in many parts of the country, but I've never experienced anything like what we have here in our own backyard. Here's how I ended last year's Something Nice series. I feel it's still appropriate this year: At one point in my life I hated the entire SEC. But once I traveled to all the different campuses some of my hatred started to disappear. I started taking on a more civil attitude towards my rivals. I realized that all of the SEC has a lot more in common with each other then we all too often care to admit. I found that maybe showing some respect for the history and traditions of other schools isn't all that hard to do once you understand them. I hope this series of articles has helped in explaining why certain schools have certain customs and rituals, and I also hope that maybe some tolerance towards our rivals can be achieved (No matter how loud that jackass next to you is screaming "Roooooll Tiiide!). So go Rebs, Whoo Pig Soiee, Go Cocks, Roll Tide, Rocky Top, Go Cats, Go State, How 'bout them Dawgs, Go Gators, Geaux Tigers, Go 'Dores and War Eagle. Peace.