Gainesville Road Trip Notes from an Old Tiger

Well folks, we did it! Our travel rooting schedule is unblemished! I’m typing this en route for home. Today will be all interstate, whereas we took our time coming and hit some of the older highways. Here are my observations:
1. O’Connell Center is an intense environment, and is a much nicer facility than the others we have visited. The seating incline is steep, and you feel as if every seat is pretty close to the court. About 10k in seating, but it was not packed.
2. Florida fans invented “fashionably late.” Several people around us got there right before halftime. Too bad they missed all the senior night intoductions before the game.
3. Florida needs to invest in a good dust mop. You probably noticed Tre and others trying to put hand sweat on their shoe soles throughout the game. Numerous slips and slides happened, and the last Florida possession in overtime was the best timed.
4. The environment was very hostile. At one point, a Florida grandmotherly type behind us yelled, “ come on ref, call it both ways!.” I turned around and told her, “yes I sure wish they would. They haven’t called a foul on your team in over 10 minutes.”
5. I want to nominate my wife as MVP. At the 6:15 mark in the second half, with us losing by 8, she said “I’ve got to do something to change things up. I’m going to the bathroom. While there, Skylar hit a 3 pointer, Emmitt slammed in a put back, Javonte hit a corner 3, and Tre hit a really tough step back jumper in the lane. We went from 8 down to 2 up. She texted me to ask how things were going, and I told her to stay in the bathroom! (Eventually she came back).
6. The Tigers seem to handle adversity better than just about any team I can remember.
7. We seem to bring out the ability in other teams to hit miracle 3’s. Incredibly frustrating to see the uncalled backcourt violation on Florida result in a chaotic, thrown up 3 that hit nothing but net. Geez.
8. If you think we have an older crowd at the PMAC, you ought to see Florida.
9. It was nice after the game to see a real patriot. In the bumper to bumper traffic getting off campus, we were behind a car with a Florida license plate that read: ALEX BOX
10. Food award winners for this trip were Adam’s Rib near the Florida campus (better than Dreamland in Tuscaloosa), and Bubba Jax Crab Shak in Valdosta, Ga.
11.The winner of the funniest event on the trip was a landslide. As we were listening to satellite radio, an Erectile Dysfunction ad came on the air just as we entered the city limits of Climax, Ga.
12. For those of you that go to Gulf Shores, note that there is a new Buc-ees that just opened at the intersection of I10 and the beach express. We had to make our obligatory Buc-ees stop. Their banana pudding in the cup is a winner, just like our beloved Tigers.
13. Player of the game in my opinion was Emmitt. He went after rebounds like a man possessed. So fun to see guys step forward when needed.

Geaux Tigers!