West Cocoa Chat

They did it, the Florida Gators pull off the "Tiger-slam" beating Ohio State last night 41 - 14 thus becoming the first school to hold both the NCAA Division One Championships in football and basketball. I stayed up the entire night watching the game and yes, even though my team is FSU Seminoles, last night I along with the rest of the State of Florida became part of "Gator Nation."

Growing up in Florida I remember when our local paper used to publish a poll called "The Bottom 10." It was a poll ranking the 10 worst College Football Teams and almost without exception, UF, FSU, and Miami were frequent members of that list back in the 60's and 70's. Last night’s win by the Gators is just another part of an incredible ride that was first started by FSU in 1979 when they became the first Florida school with a shot at a national championship losing to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl that year.

Hats off to QB Chris Leak, a 4 year starter for the Gators who was recruited by Steve Spurrier before he left for the NFL, played 2 years under Ron Zook, and now finishes his career a National Champion under Coach Myer.

I’ll leave you with red eyes and one of Florida’s favorite slogans:

“Ain’t it great to be a Florida Gator!”