Gators’ Bulls-eye = Buckeyes Black-eyed

I knew I could not blog last night. I needed to focus on the BCS National Championship Game between the favorite, the Buckeyes of the Ohio State University, and the underdog, the Gators of the University of Florida, my alma mater.

If you followed the college football ranking, you would have known that the Gators just squeaked in to gain a shot at the national title game, after the Trojans of USC self-destructed in the last regular game against the Bruins of UCLA.

When the Buckeyes’ star quarterback ran away with the Heisman trophy, it seemed that its 7th national championship was already set in stone and all the team had to do was to descend on Glendale, AZ, on January 8.

And when the score read 7 to zip in the first 16 seconds of the game following a kickoff return right into the Gators’ end zone, we (meaning the denizens of the Gator Nation) were all in shock, except for Urban Meyer and his lots.

In the Gators’ first possession, the team, led by the much maligned Chris Leak as the quarterback, evened the score. On the Gator’s second possession, they took over the lead, and for good. The Gators defense was ruthless, and the offense was fast and creative. Thus an urban legend, minus the distortion and sensationalism often attending to it, is born.

The headlines and radio talk shows are replete with catchy phrases playing on anything that has to do with the Buckeyes, and the buck, and the eye as well. Here’s a small collection:

The Gators delivered a black-eye to the Buckeyes (from the free tbt)
The Gators bucked the trend.
The Buck in the headlight (frozen stiff).
The mighty Buckeyes was plutoed.

The last one was borrowed from the radio morning talk show at Magic 94.9 today by the husband-and-wife tag team, Chad and Christie. Apparently, in the aftermath of the decision by the astronomy fraternity to drop Pluto from our solar system, the word has crept into everyday usage such that it will soon become an official word that means, what else, to be dropped, floored, relegated, or diminished in important as in becoming minor.

Our S from Gainesville sounded hoarse over the phone just after midnight, presumably from the screaming while watching the game on a large screen in the O'Connell Center. A colleague, a Gator alumnus, came to work in a Gator jacket. And another colleague felt really vindicated, for bucking the trend of doomsday scenarios painted for the Gators.

Last night was the longest stretch I have ever been a couch potato, but seated erect at the edge and not slouching in comfort save during the commercials when I briefly settled back into a restive mode, not since I started blogging. But the excitement and the elation at the end of it all is all worth it. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, my wife kept on saying it’s a sure win for the Gators. The emotional me wanted to agree with her there and then, but the rational me kept thinking up of all kinds of lapses that would reverse the fortune.

And I was glad my doubts were all misplaced for there was no denying the Gators their rightful place at the pedestal as being the only college that enjoys the double championships in collegiate sports (basketball and football), a kind of Grand Slam, in the same year. Actually it’s more like a Gator Slam as the two championships are actually back-to-back, unless the basketball team repeats as champion come March Madness.

Go Panthers! Go Gators!

(The pictures are all taken from the University of Florida website.)

From Global to Local

I chanced upon this blog, One at all-Project, while I was taking in my daily dosage of 3BT.

• The purpose: one single person from each country. The most different cultures on planet talking about everything.


• The rule: If your country is represented, hard luck, but you still can comment. Also, a new topic is decided by majority poll of the members every Friday.


• The fun: a hilarious way to learn of the varying cultures of earth’s inhabitants.


• The Encouraging Part: Only 26 countries are represented so far at last count. So the vacancy is more than 85%. I would say the odd is quite good, especially if you're from the far-flung places of the world.

So what are you waiting for?

Switching gear, this is a potential Three-peat, but over three consecutive days as opposed to the heydays of the LA Lakers in the 1980s and Chicago Bulls in the 1990s when both won the coveted NBA (read WORLD) Championships three years in a row.

But this is my version, a vicarious one. First, on Friday night, HB Plant High School beat Jefferson HS 17-13 in a thrilling high school football (the American one) game here at Tampa, winning the Hillsborough District Championship. As a parent of two Plant High students (one of them ex), I’m happy for the school.

Yesterday, the Gators overcame the Georgia Bulldogs in a much awaited clash at Jacksonville, 21-14, in a college football game. Being an UF Alumnus and the proud parent of a Gator, I’m glad for my alma mater too.

Then the Bucs will be facing off with the NY Giants at NY today. I live in Tampa and so it makes sense to root for the Bucs, who is making a nice turnaround since going 0-5 in the first 5 games of the season.

I heard some part of the first game over the AM radio but did watch the highlight at the 11pm newscast. I watched the last 3 minutes of the Gators-Bulldogs live telecast when the outcome was already settled, perhaps not in the mind of the Bulldogs fans. So I think I will watch the whole Bucs-Giants game today, barring any last-minute outing dictated by my wife.

So Go Panthers, Go Gators, and Go Bucs.

I woke out at 6.45am this morning, according to my bedside clock. Then while I was working on my computer, I noticed the computer clock was showing one hour early. Then it hit me. I’m supposed to set back the clock one hour last night.

Yipee, I have one extra hour to blog today.

That completes my daily dosage of pleasant surprises for the day, the chronicled ones anyway. And you know what, the day just got started …