When did you become a Gators fan?

soflagator

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My mom attended every home game in ‘79 with me in her stomach. I was born early the following year. So no real choice in the matter.

Still sit in those very seats.
 

bradgator2

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Was always my team. But I didnt bleed orange and blue until I stepped on campus in 96.
 

Gator Fever

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That winless 79 team. 10 years old - Remember my dad going crazy listening to the games on the radio as he watched the national game on TV. He was pretty happy with the 1980 turnaround however.
 

78

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March 1974. Got a royal spring-break introduction from a pair of high school buddies already at UF. Did all the usual suspects including Lamplighter Lounge on ladies night and the Itchetucknee on a glorious spring day that was probably a bit cool for jumping into ice water. I transferred to UF that fall.

I'd never seen such a fun and laid-back place. G'ville in the '70s was as unique as it gets.
 

SeabeeGator

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December 2002. I was a born and raised Auburn fan. Dad told me I could go to any school I wanted to as long as it was an SEC school and had a scholarship. All I had for Auburn was 1/3 off in state as a legacy or Bright Futures in Florida. Made the choice very easy. Transferred my diehard fandom the day I received my acceptance letter to the only school I applied for.
 

78

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December 2002. I was a born and raised Auburn fan. Dad told me I could go to any school I wanted to as long as it was an SEC school and had a scholarship. All I had for Auburn was 1/3 off in state as a legacy or Bright Futures in Florida. Made the choice very easy. Transferred my diehard fandom the day I received my acceptance letter to the only school I applied for.
What would your dad have said if you told him you were going to Bama?
 

SeabeeGator

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What would your dad have said if you told him you were going to Bama?
Nothing after he disowned me. Probably a few choice words before he declared disownership.

Bama wasn’t realistic, even if I had wanted to go there. I was a Florida resident. Auburn’s legacy program allows for legacy students to get automatic in state and 1/3 off that cost. Still, that left me with 2/3 of tuition, books, housing, etc to pay for. At Florida, Bright Futures covered 100% of tuition and books. National Merit covered most other things. I left college with only 1 maxed out CC from bar tabs to pay for. Not bad.
 

Zambo

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Buddy of mine in HS had an older brother attending UF. We went down for a game when we were in HS. 1984, Bo Jackson in town with Auburn. Rained hard, hot wet chicks everywhere, beer everywhere, cup wars, passing girls over the top,....just insanity. Neal Anderson, Lorenzo Hamption, and John L. Williams running all over the place. The rest of HS was just spent waiting to get into UF. The Auburn game in my first year at UF, 1986, didn't disappoint either.
 

krisl648

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I was 10 in 83....had to be on of those early 80s years. Anyways, our TV broke (black and white) and we had not TV for about a month. Dad goes and gets a COLOR TV one Saturday. Turned that bitch on and guess what was on it?? The ole O and B. Prettiest sight I ever did see. Been all Gator ever since!!!!!
 

BruceWayne

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My dad would put the radio broadcasts up to my mom's belly when she was pregnant with me. '84 Gators.
First game was '91 Fsu. 14-9 W.
First b ball game in the Odome that i could remember was Arkansas in '94.
 

GR8 2B

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August, 1978. Freshman orientation. It caught fire on Day 1, and has only became more deep-rooted every year since.
 

78

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Nothing after he disowned me. Probably a few choice words before he declared disownership.

Bama wasn’t realistic, even if I had wanted to go there. I was a Florida resident. Auburn’s legacy program allows for legacy students to get automatic in state and 1/3 off that cost. Still, that left me with 2/3 of tuition, books, housing, etc to pay for. At Florida, Bright Futures covered 100% of tuition and books. National Merit covered most other things. I left college with only 1 maxed out CC from bar tabs to pay for. Not bad.
I'd say you made a wise choice.
 

lizardbreath

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I
When did you become a Gators fan? What is your earliest recollection of how and when you became a Gators fan?

I vaguely remember "sort of" listening to the Gators with my grandfather at a very early age, so I pretty much identified with them before I even understood what was actually going on. I remember him trying to explain the difference between a quarterback, a halfback and a fullback, as I tried to figure out what he was getting so excited - or disgusted about. But it was 1960, and the huge win over GA Tech that I really remember as my first "real" Gator game experience. The win helped get Coach Graves off to a great start and represented the beginning of the modern era of Gator FB - at least for me. I'll take the memory of that first great win with me for the rest of my life.
 

maheo30

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I grew up a gator fan. My parents were gators. But when did I truly embrace being a gator? For me, I think I became a diehard in the 95 game against USCe. We checked the weather. It was supposed to be warm. So, we wore jeans and gator t-shirts. Weather man should be skinned alive. It was cold as can be. We were up in the nose bleeds with the wind blasting us. Wind chill put it in the 30s. We could have bought USCe gear to stay warm, but we said fook that. So, we stayed the entire game drinking hot chocolate to keep warm and cheering the gators. We won 63-7.
 

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