As an avid Gator fan I have been putting off the inevitable since I myself graduated with Tim Tebow on December 18, 2009. When the 2009 season ended I just let my good NCAA mood ride me all the way to this evening's gut wrenching ending. I think most of us, UF students (past and present), would agree that we have been spoiled ever since Steve Spurrier took the Head Coach position in 1990 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_florida_gators_football).
After more winning seasons than losing seasons in the past 20 years of Gator Football we may have forgotten a few things, like how to lose gracefully and that winning isn't everything.
I say that we didn't lose gracefully but I really just mean I didn't take the loss gracefully. I am not nutty, as my friend Priscilla Mueller would say, but I do tend to snap more after a Gator loss. It really effects my mood. My husband pointed this out to me tonight after the game. "UF fans are just spoiled, this is a rebuild season and you can't expect them to win every game," Josh said. My immediate response of course is that IDID NOT expect us to win every game but we SUCKED tonight. Did we really suck? Well, that is up for debate because I definitely have seen this year's team looking better; like our win against UK and UT but they were both unranked and we usually do beat them. Maybe I am spoiled and just have a hard time with the idea that my team is going to have a bad season here and there but even when we aren't playing well we usually pull off a winning season. Only time will tell on that prediction...
I mentioned earlier that winning isn't everything, or at least it shouldn't be. NCAA, and what makes it so much fun to watch, is that the players have a lot to lose. They play from their hearts and just love the game because they aren't getting paid. Generally speaking, I like to think that these are the players with integrity and a more passionate drive to perform because they have their entire future and career on the line every time they step onto the field. NCAA is about the game, and the players. I should have looked at tonight's game as a success because it was entertaining, it was thrilling, it had me on the edge of my seat all night and it created a passion inside of me. This is what football is about, the fun of it all. So we didn't win, so what? I got to watch the game and was entertained by it even though I was also annoyed by our loss.
My husband likes to think he is always right about everything, well I will have to give him at LEAST this ONE. I still think we made a lot of easily fixed mistakes and we could have played better but maybe I could have had a better attitude about it going in, and coming out. As the cliche' goes, "It isn't if you win or lose, it is all how you play the game."
