Best and Worst Road Trips

[AlexDaGator]

Tell us about the best and worst Gator related road trips you've ever taken. Can be football, basketball, Spring Break, Mardi Gras, whatever.



My worst was the UF-UT football game in Knoxville in 1998. Got a ticket really late so I didn't have a place to stay. Ended up in the nastiest hotel I've ever been in in my life. No way on Earth this place passed health inspection. By far the worst dump I've ever had to stay in. I'm talking 3rd world country bad. Would rather stop at a gas station and use their facilities than the toilet in this dump. Seriously should have just slept in my car. Think about it, what kind of hotel in Knoxville in 1998 has a last minute vacancy on Florida Weekend???

Couple that with the outcome of the game (overtime loss due to bad kicking followed by 100K Vols storming the field) and it was all around a experience.



I have some really great Spring Break and Mardi Gras trips stored in the memory banks but I'm not sure I'm ready to share those on this forum just yet. I'll stick with football.



This is a tough call. I was at all of our National Championship victories and each was legendary in its own way. I was there when we inaugurated Ron Zook Field--very satisfying night. I was there when Spikes obliterated Knowshon Moreno and Urbs called the timeouts. Still, I'd have to say my favorite road trip was the 1994 Sugar Bowl against West Virginia following the 1993 season.

I was a broke-ass college kid. Piled a bunch of us into an old Mercury Grand Marquis one of us owned. We couldn't afford a hotel so we reached out to the Tulane University housing people (and pretended to be associated with UF housing). It was between semesters and their dorms were all empty. Plus they were coeds so we flirted with them. They ended up housing us in their nicest 3 bedroom suite with a private bathroom (we had to bring our own towels and sheets and stuff) for 3 nights for like $100 cash (and a vague promise to show them a good time).

We left Gainesville like at 2 or 3 AM and our first stop was a downtown bar in New Orleans called Cooter Browns that had a bazillion kinds of beer. We were early into the craft brew thing. We waited outside until they opened at noon and proceeded to get "drunker than Cooter Brown" before 1:00. The staff was incredulous. This was a New Orleans bar and they had never seen drinking like this that early in the day. At one point, we were standing up on the tables singing "We Are the Boys" with some old Gator Alums that happened into the bar. The old Bull Gator told me "Son, I like you, what are you studying?". I drunkenly looked down at my watch, then looked up at him and said "I'm starting law school in about 36 hours." He grinned broadly and said "My daughter goes to law school. Look her up. Her name is..."

Two decades later, that old Bull Gator, his dear wife, and his daughter (who later married one of my friends that she met on a Tennessee road trip in 2006) are still very near and dear to my heart and I count them among my closest friends.

We saved enough pennies to make sure we got a really nice meal in New Orleans that day which was a very special treat for us.

Next up--New Year's Eve in the French Quarter. If you haven't done it, you should. Somehow we were able to stake out some of the most valuable real estate in New Orleans--a table at Pat O'Briens. That night was a blur. It seemed like everybody we knew from school cycled through in waves. It was like a grand reunion. I remember at one point huddling with my friends and screaming "Is there anywhere you rather be than RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Of course the answer was no. All of us had at least one or two Gainesville crushes come through that night...and a lot of unfinished business was finished that night. A lot of deals got closed so to speak.

The next day was the big game. To this day, those West Virginia fans were the worst I've ever encountered at a bowl game. I actually got into one minor scrap in the Quarter and avoided several others. They were ornery and looking to scrap. They were undefeated that season and were hoping for a piece of the MNC. I have a lot of friends from WVA but their fans that night were just terrible.

If you recall, the game was close for the first few minutes, then Monte Grow delivered one of the great hits in UF football history. Their QB was senseless; tried to button his chinstrap to his earhole and take the snap from a guard. On the next play, he threw an interception to Lawrence Wright where Wright reverses his field like twice and takes it to the house. One of the great INT returns in UF history. The rest of the game showcased Errict Rhett stomping a mudhole in them.

To give you an idea of how bad their fans were, I still remember a WVA Rv with "11-1 is still better than 11-2" painted on it after the game (our final record versus their final record) despite us crushing them 41-7. I know, right!? And it was an RV so it was alums, not students.

The guys I did that road trip with are still my best friends. We are separated by thousands of miles but we were each other's groomsmen and best men.

I'll call that my best Gator road trip ever.

Alex.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

More of Grow and Studstill:
[video=youtube;prbk6t74rSo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prbk6t74rSo[/video]

Worst: Not really Gator related but... Kansas. Never take any road trip that involves driving through Kansas.

 

[VulcanAlex]

Best was seeing Tebow beat Bama in the SEC championship game, sat among the Bama faithful and had a great time annoying the person behind me who wanted Tim's leg broken. Told him to go down and try to do so. He left but I continued to root!! Good times!! Next was watching Tebow destroy Cincy in the Big Easy!!!

 

[TheDouglas78]

Worst would be Jacksonville in 2007. I got free tickets to the Cocktail Party at the last minute from my Dad through a Vendor for his company. My buddy and I drove up to find out the Tickets were in the Georiga side in the middle of the alumni/greek grouping from Georgia. The family directly infront of us were extremely nice, their sorority daughter was dating the Georgia waterboy and was bragging about it. A lot of jokes were made at her/his expense by my buddy and me. I talked trash the entire first half, and we were seated 2 rows up on the goalline that Moreno scored. Needless to say, we didn't hear the end of it through the rest of the game. UGA fans acted like they won the National Title. It was a rough afternoon, because I hate no team as much as I hate UGA. It was the longest walk up to the gate I have ever made.

 

[t-gator]

Oxford!

 

[WobbleGator]

Worst: Not really Gator related but... Kansas. Never take any road trip that involves driving through Kansas.

I would agree if you changed "Kansas" to "Texas".

 

[AlexDaGator]

Worst would be Jacksonville in 2007. I got free tickets to the Cocktail Party at the last minute from my Dad through a Vendor for his company. My buddy and I drove up to find out the Tickets were in the Georiga side in the middle of the alumni/greek grouping from Georgia. The family directly infront of us were extremely nice, their sorority daughter was dating the Georgia waterboy and was bragging about it. A lot of jokes were made at her/his expense by my buddy and me. I talked trash the entire first half, and we were seated 2 rows up on the goalline that Moreno scored. Needless to say, we didn't hear the end of it through the rest of the game. UGA fans acted like they won the National Title. It was a rough afternoon, because I hate no team as much as I hate UGA. It was the longest walk up to the gate I have ever made.

I was there for that game too. We were directly on the border in the endzone, Gators on one side of us, Dawgs on the other (it's a surreal way to watch that game). We stayed until the bitter end. As we were filing out of our seats and got to the tunnel, a female Gator (innocently) bumped a Dawg (as is wont to happen when you are filing out of a crowded stadium). This psycho Dawg was a grown man there with his wife and young child. Redfaced, he unleashed a torrent of obscenity to make a sailor blush getting in this poor woman's face. Clearly she was shocked and terrified. Everybody around suddenly quieted down, stopped, and stared. The Dawg did this front of his own little kid (and plenty of other families). It wasn't a simple "watch what you're doing" or even "watch what you're doing you dumb b....". No, it was much worse, he called her things I've never seen any woman called in public.

I moved towards them thinking I was going to get between them and say something about watching his mouth in front of children. One of my friends who was at the game with me (a girl) grabbed my arm and indicated one of Jacksonville's finest standing nearby. I relaxed thinking the cop was going to handle the enraged goon. Nope. She just stood there, useless as tits on a boar hog. Frankly, I think she was scared to say something to the crazed Dawg fan.

One of the worst displays I've ever seen at a game.

Alex.

 

[Jand3k]

Great stories Alex.

And loved the video clip Law! What a team that was.

 

[Gatorbait25]

Without a doubt the worst trip i've made to a road game was Auburn 06. The only blemish on an otherwise stellar campaign. Their fans were jerks after the game, but surprisingly
somewhat pleasant beforehand. The game in itself was just one of the few games we lost in the Meyer years we had no business losing. I still haven't forgiven Eric Wilbur. The best road trip to a game i've ever been to was probably LSU 09. Fantastic atmosphere during the day and pre-game. The game itself was somewhat of a cluster offensively, but we played terrific defense and won fairly easily at a venue that generally gives opponents fits. UGA 07 was definitely a bummer, but watching them exit the stadium before the 4th quarter the following season to the sound of 40K gators shaking their car keys was something I'll always look back fondly on.

 

[Jand3k]

This trip was both, the worst and the best.

The best because we went up w/some great, great friends that are TN fans and because of...

2000: The "Catch?"
In front of a record crowd in Neyland Stadium, the Vols had dominated the 2000 UF/UT contest on the strength of stifling defense and 175 rushing yards from running back Travis Henry. However, an inability to finish drives led to a school record five field goals from kicker Alex Walls and a slim 23–20 lead.
Down by that score late in the fourth quarter, UF took possession of the ball at their own 9-yard line. Gator quarterback Jesse Palmer steadily led his team down the field, and with 14 seconds left in the game, they found themselves with a first and goal at the Vols' 3.

After a touchdown pass was called back on an illegal man downfield penalty, Palmer's next pass was to wide receiver Jabar Gaffney in the endzone. The ball made it to Gaffney's hands and was almost instantly slapped away by Vol cornerback Willie Miles. The official in the area signaled a touchdown, ruling that Gaffney had had possession of the ball long enough to be considered a catch. After a brief conference with the referee, the call was confirmed despite strident protests from the UT coaching staff and loud boos from the crowd. The extra point gave Florida a controversial 27–23 victory.

The Volunteer squad and fans were incensed by the call, as they believed Gaffney never gained possession of the ball and that the pass should have been ruled incomplete. Vanderbilt alumnus Al Matthews, the referee who made the initial call, received death threats after the game and was not assigned to officiate any games in Knoxville until after Fulmer left.


But it was also the worst because after the game me, my wife, two 5 year old sons and our dejected Vol friends were walking back down Main Street to the car when a pissed off, and drunk, Vol fan threw his full cup of beer right into the face of one of my Gator jersey wearing five year old sons!!

What happened next almost landed us all in jail from the local Vol PD as my TN friend and I chased down the drunkard and commenced to kick his ass.

On second thought, it wasn't MY worst. Just my sons. :)

 

[VulcanAlex]

Vandy is always a great trip, we almost always win, plenty of Gators in town, and lots of fun things to do in Nashville. It is an easy 3 hr drive and tickets are usually easy to get.

 

[AlexDaGator]

I'll throw in a couple of tidbits from some other roadies.

2007 Fiesta Bowl (following 2006 season). tOSU knew they were in that game long before we did and bought up every single ticket. That place the crawling with Buckeye alums. The biggest Buckeye Club outside Ohio is there. The freakin' street leaving the airport is called Buckeye Way.

Getting a game ticket was all but impossible, hell, getting a damn flight out of Florida to Arizona was almost impossible.

We were waaaaaaaayyyyyy outnumbered. It felt like a road game.

I will say this about the Buckeyes BEFORE the game. They were super nice. They figured they were the team of the century, there for a coronation, not a game. They kinda felt sorry for us. Bought us drinks. Thanked us for coming to "their" big game. There were so few Gators that everywhere we went we were sort of an attraction.

They patiently explained to us that SEC speed didn't apply to them--after all, they beat that great Miami team, right? And that Miami team was better than us, and they were better than that tOSU team.

It was all a foregone conclusion, but bless our hearts for showing up to support our little team! They also explained that Jim Tressel wasn't the kind of guy to run it up on us. It was going to be a blow out for sure, but he'd call off the dogs in the 4th quarter because he was classy like that.

I tried to explain to them that this game was not going to be a blow out (boy, was I wrong). I told them that this wasn't a good Gator defense...it was a GREAT Gator defense. They might very well beat us, but if they did, it would be a close game because NOBODY was going to score a bunch on our defense. They looked at me the way you might look at a small child handing you a toy phone. Aw, isn't that sweet! He thinks they can slow down the greatest offense in the history of college football. Then they would educate me about their Heisman winning QB, their blazing fast receivers, the body fat percentage of their DE (I'm dead serious about that).

They were nice, but in the most arrogant and condescending way imaginable.

Of course, that was BEFORE the game.



Alex.

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Worst would be Jacksonville in 2007. I got free tickets to the Cocktail Party at the last minute from my Dad through a Vendor for his company. My buddy and I drove up to find out the Tickets were in the Georiga side in the middle of the alumni/greek grouping from Georgia. The family directly infront of us were extremely nice, their sorority daughter was dating the Georgia waterboy and was bragging about it. A lot of jokes were made at her/his expense by my buddy and me. I talked trash the entire first half, and we were seated 2 rows up on the goalline that Moreno scored. Needless to say, we didn't hear the end of it through the rest of the game. UGA fans acted like they won the National Title. It was a rough afternoon, because I hate no team as much as I hate UGA. It was the longest walk up to the gate I have ever made.

I was at that game as well and when I read the thread title it instantly popped in my mind. Not saying it was THE worst but it ranks up there. I was on the 10 yard line near the endzone where they did their stupid bench emptying dance. I was on active duty during that time and stationed at Ft Gordon, Ga which is located in Augusta right there on the SC border. It was a weekend where for some reason I had an extra day off so I decided to drive down and meet up with a couple of buddies one of whom was a ticket holder for the jags and had a designated tailgate spot near the stadium entrance. We tailgated before and then walked in right at kickoff. Started off uneventful but you guys know the deal... near the end of the game I ended up just getting up and walking out to beat the traffic. I've never heard so much stupid mutt woofing in my life, what a bunch of inbread toothless idiots. I hate that team.

 

[AlexDaGator]

This trip was both, the worst and the best.

The best because we went up w/some great, great friends that are TN fans and because of...

2000: The "Catch?"
In front of a record crowd in Neyland Stadium, the Vols had dominated the 2000 UF/UT contest on the strength of stifling defense and 175 rushing yards from running back Travis Henry. However, an inability to finish drives led to a school record five field goals from kicker Alex Walls and a slim 23–20 lead.
Down by that score late in the fourth quarter, UF took possession of the ball at their own 9-yard line. Gator quarterback Jesse Palmer steadily led his team down the field, and with 14 seconds left in the game, they found themselves with a first and goal at the Vols' 3.

After a touchdown pass was called back on an illegal man downfield penalty, Palmer's next pass was to wide receiver Jabar Gaffney in the endzone. The ball made it to Gaffney's hands and was almost instantly slapped away by Vol cornerback Willie Miles. The official in the area signaled a touchdown, ruling that Gaffney had had possession of the ball long enough to be considered a catch. After a brief conference with the referee, the call was confirmed despite strident protests from the UT coaching staff and loud boos from the crowd. The extra point gave Florida a controversial 27–23 victory.

The Volunteer squad and fans were incensed by the call, as they believed Gaffney never gained possession of the ball and that the pass should have been ruled incomplete. Vanderbilt alumnus Al Matthews, the referee who made the initial call, received death threats after the game and was not assigned to officiate any games in Knoxville until after Fulmer left.


But it was also the worst because after the game me, my wife, two 5 year old sons and our dejected Vol friends were walking back down Main Street to the car when a pissed off, and drunk, Vol fan threw his full cup of beer right into the face of one of my Gator jersey wearing five year old sons!!

What happened next almost landed us all in jail from the local Vol PD as my TN friend and I chased down the drunkard and commenced to kick his ass.

On second thought, it wasn't MY worst. Just my sons. :)

What Vols always conveniently forget about that play...it wasn't 4th down. It was second and goal. Even if it was called incomplete, we would have gotten another shot on 3rd down and even if that was unsuccessful, we could have gone for it on 4th or tied it and gone into overtime.

Alex.

 

[AlexDaGator]

Vandy is always a great trip, we almost always win, plenty of Gators in town, and lots of fun things to do in Nashville. It is an easy 3 hr drive and tickets are usually easy to get.

Concur.

Always a great road trip. Nashville is a fantastic city, great live music in the bars, great food, big Gator Club. Tickets are easy and cheap. Lodging is plentiful.

If you haven't done it, you should.

Alex.

 

[soflagator]

Nice thread topic Alex.

One of the best for me is '93 SECCG. I had been sick since the soaker game in Jax a month earlier, but my parents felt I was fine and would perhaps benefit from yet another wet, cold night game. I remember waking up in the car when we'd just entered Alabama, and feeling like I might be dying. All that said, there was something magical about that game and I think, as much as any other, it really put UF fully on the map as a big dog program. The atmosphere was awesome, and I remember eating at a restaurant on the way back where there were like a dozen tables filled with other Gators who'd gone to the game as well. Suddenly one table starts "We are the Boys", and practically the whole restaurant began singing and swaying at their tables. It was cool because we were still in Alabama.

Maybe a 1B, the follow up to that game was equally awesome. I'd never been to NO, so we made a few-day trip put of it. I ended up with an alcoholic drink from one of the frozen drink places and had a great time being a tipsy 13 year old in the Quarter.

'94 SECCG was great. But I'd put the "5th Quarter" game a month later at probably my worst.

'95 Usce and SECCG were a lot of fun.

And as a very young kid, I got to pet Smoky in Knoxville('84 I think).

Worst were '88 VU--just terrible, '95 Sugar Bowl, and 2009 SECCG. All miserable rides home.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

1981 Peach Bowl. Cold wet and windy. Oliver Luck, Andrew's daddy, beat a Charley Pell coached team 26-6. The Florida team was loaded with talent and was considered a lock to win. Just a miserable humiliating loss and a long drive home.

 

[Swamp Queen]

Best: National Championship game vs. Oklahoma. Fly down from Tallacrappy (actually flight was from Jax but I lived in that other place) the day of the game on a flight full of fellow Gators, flight attendants doing Gator cheers for all of us. Pretty amazing day.

Worst: 2000 FSU game in Tallacrappy. F*ck everything about that town, that erector set, those fans. F*ck them all to hell and back, just so we can f*ck them all to hell again.

 

[GatorBart]

without details

Best - Vandy 1990 something - Nashville is a fun town

Worst - MSU game that got Zook canned (I came all the way from Seattle, met some friends in Bham and drove over from there)

 

[Phineus Maximus]

Worst -- 1996 Fiesta
Best -- 1997 Sugar