April 03, 2007
THE ESSENCE OF BEING A FLORIDA GATOR
During the middle of last night's NCAA championship game, I had an epiphany.
For a brief moment, less than three seconds, the true nature of what it means to be a Florida Gator was revealed to me in the embodiment of a young woman playing in the UF band.
The camera was panning the crowd, killing a few seconds of air while a time-out was called. And she was playing her trombone.
A few seconds later...
...her eyes betrayed her thoughts.
Ohmigod. I'm going to be on national TV.
What to do?
Does she continue playing and act like she's blase' about her face being beamed to millions across the nation?
Does she stop and mouth the words, "Hi, mom!"?
No. She does not.
For a brief instant, she's caught up in the excitement of where she is, what she is doing. The moment grabs her.
She does not flinch.
There is no hesitation.
She is performing as the nation watches.
So why not continue performing?
I fell in love with this woman instantly. Totally and completely.
At that moment, the Gators were leading the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game was still relatively close, but the distance in points between them was starting to grow.
She knew this. She was enjoying this.
So she threw a hand gesture that technically said "I Love You" but which, because of her white-hot enthusiasm, came off as quasi-Satanic.
She wasn't a musician at that moment. She wasn't a student. She wasn't a fan, a daughter or even a woman.
She was a Gator. And she was f-ing proud of that in ways that only a quasi-Satanic hand signal and an '80s hair band mouth gesticulation can express.
And then, after seizing the moment, she relinquished the national spotlight and went back to her lady business.
And I would forever remember her as the embodiment of all that I know about being a Florida Gator.