Saturday game days at The University of Florida are close to legendary. I could not imagine a better way to amp up my college experience, than getting a first-hand experience of a Florida Gators home game. School spirit is on an all time high as the campus fills with tailgaters and the Gator Nation radiates orange and blue. Gator fans are everywhere, and due to my observant personality I noticed a pattern of the type of people you meet during these festive Saturdays in Gainesville. Here is a summary of these different gator fans.
1. The Tailgater. They are everywhere on game days, EVERYWHERE. The campus even has to put up tape to restrict them from setting up their tarps in the middle of the sidewalks. They wake up at the crack of dawn to set up their barbecues, flat screens, and speakers. They are hard to miss.
2. The Die-Hard Gator Fan. Seeing someone dress from head to toe in orange and blue is always an interesting sight. GO GATORS!
3. The Alumni. There’s always that member from the class of 1986 who comes back and tries to relive their college glory days. I was in utter shock when I witnessed a 50-year-old chug a beer from a funnel, in the middle of a frat party. I guess once a brother, always a brother.
4. The ones who never make it to the game. There is always that person who tailgates too hard and passes out somewhere, never making it to the game. It happens to the best of us.
5. The faker. This one is actually me. That one person who pretends to know football, but is actually clueless on what is going on. Someone who has never actually seen a real football game before.
6. The Greek Lifers. It’s not game day without a bunch of sorority girls and fraternity boys running around showing everyone a good time. The girls can be seen wearing pins on their orange and blue game day outfits repping their sorority, and the boys can be spotted wearing their game day polo’s with beer cans in their back pockets.
Whether you fall into one of these categories or you run into some of these types of people, game day at UF would not be the same without them. Remember, GO GATORS!
