If you're a college basketball fan then you know the Gators were fortunate enough to garner a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. While that's gratifying, I don't want it to overshadow the fact that the Gators just did something very special.
Earlier this year the University of Florida became the first school ever to hold the national championships in football and basketball at the same time. Yesterday the University of Florida became the first school to hold the SEC Championships in football, regular season basketball, and the SEC tournament at the same time.
My friend Sanjay despises Billy Donovan. He thinks Donovan is cocky. But I remember when we Gator fans (I among them) questioned whether he could coach the Gators to an SEC tournament win. For the longest time it seemed like his teams were just worn down by the regular season. I was wrong. Dononvan has now coached the Gators to three straight SEC tourney wins (oh . . . and the NCAA tournament championship is in there as well). If you talk to Sanjay he will hate on Billy, but then Sanjay is a fan of Texas and Tennessee and he won't call me unless Texas or Tennessee wins a championship over the Gators . . . so I don't hear from Sanjay much anymore.
Speaking of hate from opposing fans . . . I don't doubt that non-Gators despise Joakim Noah for his antics. The guy comes across as half-crazy. If he weren't a Gator he would probably bother me too. But there's more to the story than that.
Noah is the heart and soul of this team. I suspect Horford is a better all-around player, but without Noah this team wouldn't be having this kind of fun. He takes the heat from opposing fans, he's fearless in the ring, and he's fun. When you look at a picture of this team you almost always see Noah in the center, making the other guys laugh.
But he isn't the court clown that he pretends to be. He plays with all the passion and pride you would ever want from your favorite player on your favorite team.
Congratulations, Gators!2007 SEC Champs.
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Summary of This Post:
blah blah blah blah blah gators.
blah blah blah blah blah champs.
blah blah blah blah blah yippee.
blah blah blah blah blah who cares.
I hope they're watching the Bucks win this year's NCAA Championship at home. That would begin soothing my soul after that debacle in Glendale.
Go Bucks!!!
Aaron - I must say, it was really fun watching the GAtors win the national football championship. (you realize I could get in a lot of trouble for this)I was very proud of them -- it was so NOT what everyone in the country thought would happen:) We're loving watching this March madness stuff too. I guess my favorites, for obvious reasons, are IU and UT, but since they more than likely won't go all that far, I'll probably end up pulling for your alma mater again. Even Roger thinks Joakim Noah is cool - he likes his Dad, the tennis player. (Did you know Roger is/was an awesome tennis player and played for his high school team and then at MIlligan?) I'm so tired of hearing about that school from the state that borders Indiana on the east -- AND about Greg Oden -- why did the traitor not go to Indiana, or even Florida??? Oh well, I think Indiana and Tennessee are gearing up to have great futures, but for this year -- GO GATORS (I can't believe I just said that).
P.S. No offense to ANYONE who has preached, led, etc. while you were gone -- everyone's done an outstanding job and all has gone well, BUT we're really ready for you, Cindy, Megan, Anna, and Cora to come home - 'til then, you're in our prayers.
P.P.S. Oh, I about forgot - Sanjay e-mails Anna occasionally, and he wrote last week and admitted to her that he went to a Justin Timberlake concert in Dallas, and he loved it! - good grief - 'ol Sanj just might be losing it this time:):)
We too think that Joakim's father is cool. We watched Yannick play at Wimbledon when we lived in England. In fact, Isaac as a toddler would imitate him sacrifice his body to make a point.
Bryan,
I should be nice to you. You are, after all, to be my roommate in Korea and there is the potential (I think) for you and I to be stuck in a foreign country while our beloved Gators and Bucks play (once again) for a national title.
So, just for you, I will say it. "Oh, yes, Ohio State is the greatest team ever and Greg Oden should get the Troy Smith Award of Excellence and as long as Ohio State's layoff between round one of the Final Four and round two isn't too long then they will definitely beat up on a lowly Gator team because the SEC is nowhere near as good as the Big 10 and I believe everything ESPN says about how much better the Bucks are than the Gators and if Greg Oden gets a slam-dunk in the first 16 seconds of the game then we will surely lose because the Gators should give up and go home everytime Ohio State promises to beat us."
If I say that will you promise not to snore in Korea?
Hi Aaron; I just wanted to let you know I found your blog site on Herbie's site and I enjoy reading it. I have it tagged on our site www.636wallace.blogspot.com Since this particular post is on the topic of sports, I must comment on that as well. Even though I now live in the basketball mecca that durham and chapel hill seem to be, Matt has pulled me in to to cheering the yellowjackets, Georgia Tech that is-I guess it's that marriage thing that did it. I wish the best for YOUR team however because I am probably the most uncompetitive person in this regard.
My bracket looks pretty bizzare. It was hard to put together this year. I've got THE Ohio State (I did the THE for your friend up there) winning the Championship in a showdown against Wisconsin.
Janie,
Welcome. I know our alliance comes at great personal cost. You have more Buckeyes in your life than I have daughters.
,
Jo is cool. Any guy who can blow a kiss to UCLA cheerleaders who are chanting "You are ugly" during a National Championship game has my vote.
Amanda,
I'll check out your blog immediately. A Yellow Jacket in Durham? You may be worse off than a Gator in East Tennessee!
Amber,
TOSU v Wisconsin? Et tu Brutus the Buckeye? Please, Amber, don't believe the ESPN Big 10 hype. It only leads to humiliation. Just ask Bryan.
I promise I haven't even watched or listened to ESPN since the line up came out! It's been purely me staring at stats and season results. I spent about 30 minutes debating the Flordia/Wisconsin game. I finally chose Wisconsin because they just seemed to play a bit more consistently this year.
Example: The Florida Vanderbilt game
Amber,
The Vandy game? The one we played after we had clinched the SEC and had nothing to play for? Those Commodores were hopped up on goobers that day. They couldn't miss. Okay . . . let that game define us.
If you get the chance, though, check out the score of UFvOSU (UF won 86-60) and then the score of OSUvWisconsin (OSU won 66-49).
I'm just sayin. . .
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