My First Gator Game

The Florida Gators started their football season yesterday.  Most of my class got season tickets and a seating block together, so I was looking forward to some tailgating with friends and some SEC football.

Little did I know that the weather forecast yesterday for central Florida was exactly the same as what was predicted for the surface of the Sun.  I have literally never been so hot in my entire life.  It was hot, but bearable, during the tailgate since there was at least a little shade.  But once we got to the stadium, holy cripes was it hot.  It didn't help that this week our block was about 10 rows from the top of the stadium on the sun side.  I was just sitting there pouring sweat.  Like, it was soaking through my shorts and running down my arms, face, and legs.  I don't even sweat that much during an hour of playing basketball.  Needless to say, most of us didn't make it to half-time before bailing.

But, it was still cool to get out, be with friends, and see the spectacle that surrounds Florida football.  I'm sure it will be so much nicer in a few weeks when things have started cooling down a little bit.

Members of my PA class that came to the tailgate.

 Apparently, somebody thinks it's a great idea to funnel tens of thousands of students into one entrance.  It was hot as Hades and everybody was dripping with sweat.  I felt like I was a cow in really stinky a stockyard.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium aka The Swamp.  Seating capacity: 88,548.

OK, so, I went to a few football games at BYU.  BYU is not a small school.  It has almost 33,000 students, which makes for a lot of BYU fans/alumni.  They are proud of their team and Provo sees a good influx of people on gameday.  But it is nothing in comparison to what I saw this weekend in Gainesville.  Gator football is a lifestyle here.  I mean, just look at that stadium!  Look at all those people.  And this was just for the home opener against Bowling Green.  Wait til the LSU game.  Craziness.

Gator chomp!

Last minute prep

It all begins tomorrow.   We have orientation tomorrow and Friday from 7:30-3:00.  Orientation counts as starting school, right?  I can't believe it's already here.  The last 4 years are a blur.

But, that's not what I meant to write about today.  Because I don't want to be late tomorrow (I hate being late), I decided to jump on the bus to see how long it would take to get to campus.  Most days (unless it's raining) I think I will ride my bike to class, but I have to dress up nice tomorrow for ID pictures and whatnot and didn't feel like riding in a shirt and tie.  I filled my quota for biking in dress clothes while I was on my mission.

Gainesville actually has a really good bus system.  The route in front of my apartment has a bus coming every 15-20 mins.  Not only that, but the interior of the buses offer not-so-subtle words of wisdom like this...

I don't have my student ID yet, so I had to pay $1.50 to ride.  Once I get my ID, it'll be free.  Turns out it takes about 20-25 mins to get to campus by bus.  I made it in 15 on my bike.

My initial plan was to just keep riding the bus until I got back home.  But, I decided I should probably try and find the room we're meeting in tomorrow so that I don't get lost.  BOY was that a good idea.  Turns out the building we meet in (called the Communicore) is a labyrinth of hallways, labs, classrooms, and offices.  None of the numbering makes sense, and the signs that were supposed to be pointing to where I wanted to go never actually led anywhere!  I honestly walked around that place (upstairs and down) for about 30 minutes.  It was ridiculous.  Finally, I found the School of Medicine bookstore and asked the nice lady if she knew where my class was.  We consulted a map, she pointed me down a hallway I hadn't been down, took the elevator up a floor, and finally found the classroom.  Wanna know why I couldn't find it?  Because there is no door to it from inside the building.  You have to go outside to go inside.  It's like those stupid classrooms at the south end of the Harold B Lee library that you can't actually get to from inside the library.  Anyway, it turns out that if I would have gone in the door to the right instead of the one on the left when I very first entered the building, the stairs would have led me right to it!  It's all good though.  I think the best way to find out where you're going is to get lost...That's deep.

While I was wandering around outside on the terrace, I found this little guy.  Sorry for the crappy image.  I really need a new phone.  Anybody want to buy me an iPhone?  Please?

Then, because I had gotten off the bus and didn't have any cash for the fare back, I had to walk home.  It's hot and sooooo humid because of all the recent rain.  Turns out my apt is a lot further away from campus than I thought.

Lastly, this was in my email when I got home.

That's right.  Come fall, I'll be cheering along with 88,000 other Gator fans in The Swamp.

All I have to do now is iron a shirt and get to bed at a decent time.  I'll let y'all know how it goes tomorrow.

New Purchase...maybe

So, because there are about a billion people that want season tickets for football games, UF does a lottery.  They make you pay in advance and will refund you if you don't get chosen.  Apparently it's based on credit hours at UF, so my chances of getting tix aren't great.  But I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Oh yeah, and they had us vote on a Student Section t-shirt.  My vote was for option 1.  What's your pick?