On a whim Saturday myself and two other UF students decided to drive up to Atlanta for the game. We were sitting at the Swamp watching UF beat Bama and we were lamenting at how we could be there. After all, it's only 5 hours down the road AND we were all Rowdy Reptiles (having gone to 8 or more home games this year). So after a couple of beers the idea became a reality. We jumped in the car around 8 and drove into Atlanta. Once there, we proceeded to hit several bars, catching each as they closed. We finally found a party through a friend of a friend of a friend. We had four cups of beer and hit the Flying Biscuit for breakfast.

The student line was something. At first, UF students greatly outnumbered the Kentucky "blue hearts." But then their ranks began to grow...and grow...and grow. I don't know why more UF students didn't make the trip. Some goofy guy with a megaphone began leading cheers for both student groups. He did the C-A-T-S cheer and "what's your favorite colors baby" cheer. He didn't know ANY UF cheers. So I called him over and told him how to make the band noise for the "Go Gators" cheer. He thought I was crazy but he did it anyway and the students responded with the appropriate level of enthusiasm. He was blown away by the cheer and kept coming back to me to tell him more cheers. I taught him "Jaws"...but he screwed it up. One of my friends then ran out and did his best Mr. Two Bits impersonation. That went over well too. Unfortunately, the Cats fans started their classless "Walsh is gay" chant. Our ranks responded with the "Where's your daddy?" and "don't drop the soap" cheer aimed at a certain player's recent family legal problems. I hate it when fans get personal in smack talking. There is no need to go below the belt. Fortunately, the Gator fans did no more than what was necessary and didn't cross the line too far. I convinced a girl standing next to me to put "Walsh is straight" on one side of her sign. Crazy enough, the next time they started chanting the now infamous cheer...she held up the sign and they shut up. Can't believe that actually worked. We joked about how it took them so long to phonetically spell out the words on the sign that they forgot what they were chanting.

Eventually we made our way into the stadium. I can honestly say, while UK had WAAAAAAAY more fans...our fans were better. We yelled and screamed the ENTIRE time, even when we were losing. Conversely, UK fans only get up when they are on a roll. We were sitting in the upper deck (club level)...but we still made so much noise that the student section by the pep band would look up to us to see what cheers we were doing and follow OUR lead. The alumni even got into it a few times (good job guys...you are NEVER too old to cheer or chomp).

When we lost the lead I heard that damn cheer again- “Walsh is gay.” Except this time it was originating from the skybox right over our student section. Unfortunately, the students in the UK section next to the UF student section were chanting along. Funny thing is that the chant was started by a man who appeared to be in his 50s. This grown man was chanting hateful insults at a young adult…real classy. But we didn’t need the sign to shut those clowns up this time. Walsh shut them up for us by dropping those threes.

What surprised me most about the Kentucky fans, however, was that they left (down 15) with more than THREE MINUTES left in the game. Don’t run smack at me about how big Rupp is and how hard it is to get tickets. Don’t tell me about “Catlanta” and how many fans UK travels. The bulk of the “blue hearts” left with plenty of time on the clock. They gave up on their team and I actually believe that those players saw them leaving and it could have affected (somewhat) their play in those final minutes. As far as I’m concerned, the “Big Blue Nation” is just a bunch of spoiled brats and I’ve lost respect for them in terms of their alleged dedication to Kentucky basketball.

But back to UF- I won’t soon forget the utter joy and happiness I experienced when we won that game. That is why we are fans of sport. It is that experience. I’ve been down with this squad. I remember the Michigan State exit two years ago. I remember Manhattan. But this squad proved something this weekend and I was lucky enough to see it first hand. After the final buzzer my friends and myself ran down to court level to watch the trophy ceremony and the cutting of the nets. That was special. I saw Walsh hug his teary-eyed AAU coach. I saw Moss throw his hat and shirts to his friends and family in the stands. I even high-fived Walsh as he ran off the court. Thank you guys for playing hard and buying into Billy D’s system. Thank you for playing defense. Thank you for playing “tougher” and not giving up. Thank you for the South Carolina comeback. Thank you for beating UK for the first time in 4 years. Thank you for our first ever SEC tourney championship. And thank you for making this season something special. Something that this Gator won’t ever forget. Good luck Friday!