Jeffrey M. Daniels.com

  • Home
  • Books
  • Excerpt
  • News
  • Ramblings
  • Author
  • FAQ

Flying the colors

Posted November 30, 2017 by JMD & filed under Communication, Florida, Me, People, Sports.

Sports bring out lots of interesting characteristics in people. From friendly rivalries to heated enmity. For my money, I believe college roots generate far more energetic reactions than pro loyalties. At least, that’s the sense I get when I’m flying the colors of my Florida Gators.

As we in South Florida can readily attest, most sports teams go through periods of mediocre-to-dismal play. If you’re fortunate, “your” team can have some time at the top. In rare cases, some teams get to spend a good while playing at the pinnacle.

These days, professional sports in South Florida are sagging. The Dolphins, Heat and Panthers are all in a downturn. For locals, though, they’ve seen a recent surge in the colleges of South (and mid) Florida.

While my Gators are coming off a terrible season in football (the most recent of many), the basketball team is in the top 10 and the baseball team just won the College World Series last year, so that takes the sting off.

Unquestionably, though, football holds the biggest cards in the Florida college rivalries, which means there’s grief to be received when I wear the orange and blue in any noticeable way.

And I sure do like to make it noticeable. For a lot of reasons. Here’s a few…

Life of ease

All other arguments aside, UF put me on the path that ultimately led to me retiring before the age of 50 (shout out to FAU for the accounting degree). I’m sorry, but any cause that can make that claim gets an instant promise to display their colors at every opportunity.

The colors

Bold and beautiful. Coming from a lifetime of art (both drawing and appreciating) I love bright and strong colors. That blazing blue and eye-popping orange set off any display of Gator love. Shirts, shoes, license plates, etc. Proud and pretty!

The logo

I mean, c’mon, it’s a hungry gator! I live in Florida and I’ve fished many times in the Everglades. Gators are cool. Florida Gators are cooler. Flying the Gator logo is the coolest.

The tradition

All colleges have a personal arrogance. The fans of their schools carry that out with them. In Florida, UF has the “best” arrogance – based on snarkiness (see: Steve Spurrier). UM’s is based on belligerence and FSU’s is kinda “aw shucks” homespun. The rest of the schools need a few more years of success to claim their unique “attitude”.

Over time, I’ve accumulated various trappings of my Gator loyalty. For a while, it was the most common thing I would be gifted by friends and family (and co-workers, during those bygone days).

These days, my flying the colors is more sedate. The license plate, of course. Shirts, for sure and some hats. My golf bag is pure Florida Gators and last year, my former college roommate turned me on to a huge sale on Nike Gator sneakers. Those are awesome!

Occasionally, when I’m flying the colors, someone tries to poke fun at me based on the way the Gators football team is doing these past few years. Two things keep me chuckling in the face of such “trash talk”:

– When I first went to UF, the team was 0-10-1. No one is going to be able to make me feel bad about 5-6 or 4-7. Ever.

– Being a fan of your school isn’t dependent on the team winning all the time. It’s nice. It lets you talk trash to others, but in the end, as the Beach Boys said, you’ve got to be true to your school.

So I am and so it is that you can still see me proudly flying the colors!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Tags: Be true to your school, Florida Gators, Gators logo, school colors, school pride, university of florida, wearing the school colors

One Response to “Flying the colors”

  1. Steve Lewis November 30th, 2017

    Nice shoes. GO GATORS!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

  • (will not be published)

Recent Posts

  • A brisk start to this year’s cooking challenge
  • Leading from behind
  • There’s not enough space on my keyboard
  • What’s cooking in 2019
  • You’ve got no mail

Recent Comments

  • A brisk start to this year's cooking challenge - jeffreymdaniels.com on What’s cooking in 2019
  • Steve on Leading from behind
  • JMD on Old years’ resolutions
  • Steve on Old years’ resolutions
  • JMD on The Dems made my team miss the playoffs

Archives

  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010

Categories

  • Art & Music
  • Authors
  • Baseball
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Bowling
  • Cell phones
  • Charity
  • Clothing
  • Comic books
  • Communication
  • Driving
  • Economy
  • Education
  • email
  • Events
  • Family
  • Fantasy and Science Fiction
  • Fishing
  • Florida
  • Food/Cooking
  • Football
  • GNABRT
  • Golf
  • Halloween
  • Health
  • Hobbies
  • Holidays
  • Home
  • Humor
  • Insurance
  • investing
  • Investing
  • Landscaping
  • Language
  • Me
  • Miss Communication
  • Money
  • Movies
  • Nature
  • Nostalgia
  • online shopping
  • Out on a limb
  • People
  • Politics
  • Reading
  • Relationships
  • Road Trip
  • Shopping
  • Social media
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Television
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Web
  • Work
  • Writing

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Jeremy Shuttle Adventures

Jeremy Shuttle Adventures
  • Home •
  • Books •
  • Excerpt •
  • News •
  • Ramblings •
  • Author •
  • FAQ •
  • Discuss •
  • Email

Copyright © Jeffrey M. Daniels - All Rights Reserved - Web Hosting and Design by InMotion Hosting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: