Truman's Conscience

Go Gators!

This morning's Florida Times-Union had a nice front page spread on the final four with some interesting facts about each school. As a UF alumni (I graduated in August, 1980) I am compelled to reproduce the facts given for UF in the FTU simply because I found them interesting if not for any other reason. In my senior year our football team went 0-10-1. The one tie that year was, ironically, against George Tech who had Steve Spurrier on their coaching staff. I attended every home game that year and even went on a road trip to watch the Gators get waxed by Mississippi who won all of two games that year. So my loyalty eventually was paid off though it needn't have been as I love the school regardless) in spades by Steve Spurrier and Billy Donovan.

Now to the subject at hand. It seems of the four schools represented at this years Final four the Gators have the largest enrollment: 34,000 (undergraduates). A short drive from Jacksonville (about 90 minutes) is all I have to endure to get my Gator fix. The academic fact the FTU gave for UF (as oppposed to UCLA, LSU & George Mason) I found interesting: "There's a good chance your kid's not going to get in." Wow. So much for legacy's. It seems the most popular majors are Business (Marketing) and engineering. The basketball legend listed for UF was Neal Walk. (As opposed to LSU's Pete Maravich and UCLA's John Wooden - George Mason doesn't really have one yet). The BMOC for UF was listed as Dwayne "I can tear exterior mirrors off cars" Schintzus. One fact that surprised me was movies that were filmed on campus: "Parenthood & Doc Hollywood." The hangout listed for UF was the Reitz (or more comonly called "Union Hall" when I attended). I laughed at the best quote from the reference guide given: "Freshman girls dress like they are going clubbing to class." I was the most impressed with the "Did you know?" fact: 'Eighteen of the 20 seniors who played for coach Donovan have graduated, a 90 percent rate. And last but not least they lested a couple of famous alumni: former senator and governor Bob Graham and (ugh) Buddy Ebsen.

Prediction: that glass slipper won't be fitting so well on George Mason at game time this evening (6:07pm). Though it will be a very close game.

UPDATE: Well I was wrong! The game wasn't even close - but that glass slipper George Mason found sure wasn't even close to fitting and "poof" they turned into the proverbial pumpkin. Gators win 75 - 58! I hope the Gators wind up playing LSU over UCLA simply for the fact the Gators know LSU and what to expect. Wow! What a run - 10 straight wins!

GO GATORS!