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.
