It was a cool overcast day in Gainesville. The Swamp was filling up with fans as the players got their last few minutes of practice in on the field. Orange and blue filled the stadium. Everything from classic Gator shirts to a shirt that made me giggle saying, "Beat the Cocks." It was looking like gameday.
The feeling of being in The Swamp is like no other. It's both so much bigger and smaller than I expected. The stadium is a bit overwhelming at first. The way it's built it looks like the fans are just spilling out of the sides. It makes you feel like you're so close and connected with all of the other fans. It makes getting excited for the game a breeze.
The actual field looked a lot smaller though. I sat at one of the end zones and was surprised at how well I could see the other end zone. It was a nice feeling though, I felt like I was able to really see the whole game even when they were at the opposite side of the field.
About The Game
The Gators started out playing like crap. I'm not going to sugar coat it, they sucked. Our players always get so cocky at the beginning of the game because they think they're hot stuff. Well news flash boys, you're only hot stuff if you play smart and don't act stupid.
We were down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and then 21-14 at the end of the second quarter. They made up a little bit of ground in the third quarter. Instead of being 14 points down we were only down by 10. But it still wasn't looking good.
One of the Gator traditions in The Swamp is for the whole stadium to get on their feet and sway while singing "We Are The Boys of Old Florida." Then after that we go straight into our tribute to Tom Petty who was from Gainesville by singing "I Won't Back Down."
In the middle of the Tom Petty tribute the South Carolina band starts playing their fight song. How freaking rude! You don't just come into The Swamp and interrupt the Tom Petty tribute. All of the Florida fans got so pissed off by this. We all started booing the USC band and sang even louder, everybody facing the band. This moment in the game felt like a religious experience, if football were a religion. To some I guess football is a religion.
The fourth quarter is where the magic happened. The gators were kicking ass and taking names. The crowd was on fire and the players were loving it. Bam, we made a touchdown. Now the score is 31-28. We're still down 3 points. Our next move is to either make a touchdown or make a field goal to tie the game and go into overtime.
Finally, the gators were on the 2 yard line. It was now or never. If we make this touchdown that means that we take the lead and all we have to do is hold back the Gamecocks for 4 more minutes. If not we're going to try to make a field goal to tie it up. C'mon Gators don't let the fans down...
Boom. Touchdown. The crowd went wild. People were screaming, waving towels, and kissing the person in the seat next to them. The game wasn't over yet but we all knew that we had won at that touchdown. The crowd was truly on fire and I loved every second of it.
The Gators won with a final score of 31-35.
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Side Note
Part of the fan experience when going to a football game is going through security before you enter the stadium. As my aunt and I are walking up we see him, one of the famous hot cops of Gainesville. Last year right before hurricane Irma hit Florida the Gainesville Police Department posted a photo of three of their officers helping to prep for the storm. The photo quickly went viral because of the "Hot Cops." Click here for the full story.
Short story short officer Daniel Rengering was sitting at the table waiting to check my bag. I asked him, "Can I get a picture with you?" Before I could even get all of the words out of my mouth he said, "Yes, absolutely!" I can tell that he is loving all of the attention that he's gotten since going viral. He is even posing for romance novel covers, and I got to have MY picture taken with HIM! How awesome is that?!
My mom even printed a wallet sized picture of us that I keep next to the speedometer in my car to remind me not to speed.
Did y'all watch the game? Comment below and let me know!
XOXO @hellsbelle 🖤
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