dirty
EOG Master
Gainesville, Fla. ? Here in Swaggerville, USA (pop. 47,000 or so), the rarefied air has returned and feet don't seem to touch the ground these days.
Remember how much fun it used to be to hate the Gators?
<!--endtext--><!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=175 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
MARY ANN CHASTAIN / Associated Press
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>Florida's Joakim Noah blocks a shot by South Carolina's Brandon Wallace in Wednesday's game, which was the Gators' second straight loss after a 17-0 start to the season.
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
GARY W. GREEN /Orlando Sentinel
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>Football coach Urban Meyer is poised to sign the top-rated recruiting class in the nation this week.
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- BEGIN Clickability "Most Popular" links -->
MOST POPULAR STORIES
<!-- END Clickability "Most Popular" links --></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=170 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=170 bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=168 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=148>
[FONT=arial, helvetica]EMAIL THIS[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]PRINT THIS[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]MOST POPULAR[/FONT]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=5>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintinclude--><!--begintext-->The unmitigated gall of that "we're-better-than-you" attitude was surpassed only by that pesky little habit they had of proving it all the time on the field or on the court.
Ahem, it's baaack.
"Oh, I like this school," freshman basketball player Walter Hodge said. "Every day we wake up, people are talking about us. It makes you feel good."
It's not just that the Gators are poised to grab perhaps the No. 1 football recruiting class in America on Wednesday. It's not just that the basketball team sits at No. 5 in the country. It's both.
If you want to swagger ? real, honest-to-goodness swagger ? you need to be able to shut up fans of the other guys (read: Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee) when they say: "Yeah, but what about football?" Or "Hey, stupid, it's basketball season."
January, by the way, is basketball season, something no one in Gainesville needs to be reminded of. Any SEC fans could get pumped up for Kentucky or Georgia. But Savannah State? On a Wednesday night?
The local paper, The Gainesville Sun, had no problem calling Savannah State one of the worst teams in the country, right there on its front page. It was as meaningless as any game on the Gators' schedule all season.
But there they were, 64 students waiting outside the O'Connell Center at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 18. One student was dressed as Hulk Hogan (a really, really skinny one). Along with Superman, Batman and some other strange, yellow-suited superhero.
By 6, an hour before game time, the student section was packed, many of them standing and hollering "Gator bait," which was particularly impressive seeing as how not a single Savannah State player or coach had made an appearance.
Being on top does this for a school, and no one knows that better than Gators athletics director Jeremy Foley.
Foley has seen the good at Florida as well as the bad. The three years between Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer were nothing short of tumultuous. Foley called it "a house divided."
But now, its closer to nirvana.
Don't get too cocky
"We're in a period of good fortune," Foley said. "The fan base is happy. Recruiting is going well, we beat Florida State and won our bowl game, and our basketball team [was] undefeated. I told our staff to enjoy it, but don't start thinking you're better than you are because if you do, once you start hanging your hat on what you've accomplished, you're in trouble.
"I've definitely seen the dynamics change here. The students don't sit around waiting for spring [football] practice anymore. That's the way it's supposed to be. The atmosphere is as positive as it has been in a long time."
Joakim Noah, Florida's 6-foot-11 sophomore from New York, is soaking it all in. Yeah, he's a celebrity. He has funky hair, is the tallest guy around and runs the court like a gazelle. But it's not so much the hero worship that he feels, but an overall enthusiasm.
"Florida's a fun place to be," Noah said. "You only get to go to college for four years, so enjoy it. It's great to be getting all this attention for the team, but the thing is, people just love sports here."
Noah has no problem saying that Florida is still a football school. He heard about it when he was being recruited. As a non-football fan growing up, it worried him a little.
Then came a fall Saturday at The Swamp.
"There's no feeling like walking up on a Saturday morning to The Swamp when a game is about to start," Noah said. "When the guys come out of the tunnel, man, everyone is so ready. I'm a huge fan now, and it's because of how into it everyone here is."
Come Wednesday, a new flock of Gators will be signing to play at The Swamp. Guys like quarterback Tim Tebow and receivers Percy Harvin and Jarred Fayson are prospects that everyone wanted.
All of this has Gators in Atlanta as excited as the ones down south.
"Atlanta Gators are always excited about their school and sports, but this year the buzz is louder than ever," said Shelly Silberman, president of the Atlanta Gator Club. "You won't meet another Gator anywhere in the Atlanta area without hearing about the awesome recruiting season Coach Meyer has had or about how great the basketball team is looking.
"We've definitely seen an increase in interest this year. All of this is definitely due to the excitement surrounding Gator sports."
Looking for problems
Foley knows just how fickle this kind of good fortune can be.
The football team was 9-3 last year. Three losses a year simply won't cut it, and Foley and Meyer both know it. And the hoopsters have been strong before, often losing a bit earlier than maybe they should have.
So pardon Foley if he's worried about the other shoe dropping.
"Everyone's excited because they see where we're headed," he said. "In football, they like the style of play, the focus on academics and discipline, the recruiting, et cetera. But I know we're going to be judged on where we are in five years. It's a way of life. You have to focus your attention on the problem areas."
And there is the problem.
It's not that an administrator presiding over a relatively problem-free period has to create problems, but he does need to become a forward-thinking administrator, expecting problems.
"You've got to anticipate problems," Foley said. "Enjoy things while they last, but anticipate that it won't last, and be ready."
Remember how much fun it used to be to hate the Gators?
<!--endtext--><!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=175 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>Florida's Joakim Noah blocks a shot by South Carolina's Brandon Wallace in Wednesday's game, which was the Gators' second straight loss after a 17-0 start to the season.
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>Football coach Urban Meyer is poised to sign the top-rated recruiting class in the nation this week.
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- BEGIN Clickability "Most Popular" links -->
MOST POPULAR STORIES- Gimme 5: Anna Benson
- Body of 3-year-old found; adoptive mom charged
- Johnson spurns Dogs for USC
- Child sex abuse 'hunch' leads to arrests
- Two charged over fighting dogs in Cobb
<!-- END Clickability "Most Popular" links --></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=170 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle width=170 bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=168 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=148>
[FONT=arial, helvetica]EMAIL THIS[/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica]PRINT THIS[/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica]MOST POPULAR[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD width=5>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintinclude--><!--begintext-->The unmitigated gall of that "we're-better-than-you" attitude was surpassed only by that pesky little habit they had of proving it all the time on the field or on the court.Ahem, it's baaack.
"Oh, I like this school," freshman basketball player Walter Hodge said. "Every day we wake up, people are talking about us. It makes you feel good."
It's not just that the Gators are poised to grab perhaps the No. 1 football recruiting class in America on Wednesday. It's not just that the basketball team sits at No. 5 in the country. It's both.
If you want to swagger ? real, honest-to-goodness swagger ? you need to be able to shut up fans of the other guys (read: Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee) when they say: "Yeah, but what about football?" Or "Hey, stupid, it's basketball season."
January, by the way, is basketball season, something no one in Gainesville needs to be reminded of. Any SEC fans could get pumped up for Kentucky or Georgia. But Savannah State? On a Wednesday night?
The local paper, The Gainesville Sun, had no problem calling Savannah State one of the worst teams in the country, right there on its front page. It was as meaningless as any game on the Gators' schedule all season.
But there they were, 64 students waiting outside the O'Connell Center at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 18. One student was dressed as Hulk Hogan (a really, really skinny one). Along with Superman, Batman and some other strange, yellow-suited superhero.
By 6, an hour before game time, the student section was packed, many of them standing and hollering "Gator bait," which was particularly impressive seeing as how not a single Savannah State player or coach had made an appearance.
Being on top does this for a school, and no one knows that better than Gators athletics director Jeremy Foley.
Foley has seen the good at Florida as well as the bad. The three years between Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer were nothing short of tumultuous. Foley called it "a house divided."
But now, its closer to nirvana.
Don't get too cocky
"We're in a period of good fortune," Foley said. "The fan base is happy. Recruiting is going well, we beat Florida State and won our bowl game, and our basketball team [was] undefeated. I told our staff to enjoy it, but don't start thinking you're better than you are because if you do, once you start hanging your hat on what you've accomplished, you're in trouble.
"I've definitely seen the dynamics change here. The students don't sit around waiting for spring [football] practice anymore. That's the way it's supposed to be. The atmosphere is as positive as it has been in a long time."
Joakim Noah, Florida's 6-foot-11 sophomore from New York, is soaking it all in. Yeah, he's a celebrity. He has funky hair, is the tallest guy around and runs the court like a gazelle. But it's not so much the hero worship that he feels, but an overall enthusiasm.
"Florida's a fun place to be," Noah said. "You only get to go to college for four years, so enjoy it. It's great to be getting all this attention for the team, but the thing is, people just love sports here."
Noah has no problem saying that Florida is still a football school. He heard about it when he was being recruited. As a non-football fan growing up, it worried him a little.
Then came a fall Saturday at The Swamp.
"There's no feeling like walking up on a Saturday morning to The Swamp when a game is about to start," Noah said. "When the guys come out of the tunnel, man, everyone is so ready. I'm a huge fan now, and it's because of how into it everyone here is."
Come Wednesday, a new flock of Gators will be signing to play at The Swamp. Guys like quarterback Tim Tebow and receivers Percy Harvin and Jarred Fayson are prospects that everyone wanted.
All of this has Gators in Atlanta as excited as the ones down south.
"Atlanta Gators are always excited about their school and sports, but this year the buzz is louder than ever," said Shelly Silberman, president of the Atlanta Gator Club. "You won't meet another Gator anywhere in the Atlanta area without hearing about the awesome recruiting season Coach Meyer has had or about how great the basketball team is looking.
"We've definitely seen an increase in interest this year. All of this is definitely due to the excitement surrounding Gator sports."
Looking for problems
Foley knows just how fickle this kind of good fortune can be.
The football team was 9-3 last year. Three losses a year simply won't cut it, and Foley and Meyer both know it. And the hoopsters have been strong before, often losing a bit earlier than maybe they should have.
So pardon Foley if he's worried about the other shoe dropping.
"Everyone's excited because they see where we're headed," he said. "In football, they like the style of play, the focus on academics and discipline, the recruiting, et cetera. But I know we're going to be judged on where we are in five years. It's a way of life. You have to focus your attention on the problem areas."
And there is the problem.
It's not that an administrator presiding over a relatively problem-free period has to create problems, but he does need to become a forward-thinking administrator, expecting problems.
"You've got to anticipate problems," Foley said. "Enjoy things while they last, but anticipate that it won't last, and be ready."