Leon...can you? :-) > > > > On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 4:14 PM, Oliver Barry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> What a great article, and, so true! We should be very careful when >> we're talking about our student athletes. >> >> It's ok to cuss theirs, just not ours. >> >> I'm going to miss Mr. Two Bits. I wish someone could step up and take his >> place. But, how do you replace an original? He's a Florida institution! >> >> >> >> Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI >> >> Real Estate Broker >> >> Halo Realty, LLC >> >> 700 E. Main St. >> >> Hendersonville TN 37075 >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> office: 615-822-3509 >> >> fax: 615-822-7741 >> >> mobile: 615-972-4239 >> ------------------------------ >> >> *From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On >> Behalf Of *Gatornet Admin >> *Sent:* Friday, November 21, 2008 3:02 PM >> *To:* GatorNews >> *Subject:* [gatornews] Fw: Mr. Two-Bits to hang it up after 60 years at >> Florida >> >> >> >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> >> *From:* John Vega <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> *OrlandoSentinel.com* >> >> *Mr. Two-Bits to hang it up after 60 years at Florida* >> >> Mike Bianchi >> >> SPORTS COMMENTARY >> >> November 21, 2008 >> >> >> >> >> >> Three decades ago, Hugh Culverhouse, then the owner of the expansion Tampa >> Bay Buccaneers, came to George Edmondson with a proposal. >> >> Culverhouse had seen the passion and devotion Edmondson � a.k.a. Mr. >> Two-Bits � generated by parading around the stadium on autumn Saturdays >> and leading cheers at the University of Florida. He wanted the same sort of >> excitement and fervor at the Bucs' games on Sunday and made Edmondson, a >> Tampa insurance salesman at the time, a lucrative offer. >> >> "Will you come do the same sort of thing at our NFL games?" Culverhouse >> asked. "We'd pay you real well." >> >> Mr. Two-Bits shook his head immediately. >> >> "No," he answered. "What I do for the Gators is from the heart, not from >> the pocketbook." >> >> For six decades, Mr. Two-Bits has been the heart and soul and a booster >> and a benefactor of the Gators. And, now, sadly, he's hanging up his saddle >> oxfords. That's right, Mr. Two-Bits, 86, is retiring after 60 years of >> leading cheers, lifting spirits and supporting his team through the best of >> times � but, more importantly, through the worst of them. >> >> "The Gators are on top now," Mr. Two-Bits says. "They don't need me like >> they used to." >> >> You want to talk about not leaving until your job is finished, Two-Bits >> has done just that. He started cheering at Florida Field on a Saturday in >> 1949 when he attended a UF game against his alma mater � The Citadel. He >> will finish on a Saturday 60 years later with the Gators coincidentally >> playing The Citadel. >> >> Except this time the Gators are a national power, ranked No. 3 in the >> country and everyone's favorite to win a second national championship in >> three years. Back in 1949, they were the class clowns of the Southeastern >> Conference and two years removed from a 13-game losing streak. >> >> Edmondson had just gotten out of the Navy, where he was a fighter pilot >> during World War II. He moved back to Tampa and was invited to a UF football >> game by some Gator buddies of his. He couldn't believe his ears when the >> Gators took the field and UF fans started booing. Then the head coach Joe >> Wolf's name was announced and they booed even louder. >> >> "I was appalled," Edmondson says. "It was terrible. I didn't understand >> it. How could you boo your own team? They were just college kids out there >> trying their hardest." >> >> That's when he got this crazy idea in his head. Whenever Florida fans >> started to boo, he stood up and started screaming out his two-bits cheer. >> And then he coaxed those around him to stand and do the same. >> >> By the end of the game, his entire section was cheering wildly. And as it >> turned it out, the Gators won and a tradition was born. Edmondson came back >> the next week and fans came over to his section just so they could cheer >> along with him. Eventually, everyone started calling him Mr. Two-Bits. He >> became so popular that he began traversing the stadium throughout the games, >> popping up in different sections to lead cheers. >> >> He's seen it all. He saw Steve Spurrier kicking that field goal against >> Auburn as a player a few decades ago; he saw Spurrier coaching the Gators to >> a national title a decade ago; he saw Spurrier coaching against the Gators a >> few days ago. Through all the years, the cheers and Gator fans crying in >> their beers, you could always count on Mr. Two-Bits showing up in his yellow >> button-down dress shirt, his orange and blue necktie, a pair of nice slacks >> and those 1950s saddle oxford shoes. >> >> He is a throwback from a more genteel, civil time when college boys went >> to football games dressed in blue blazers and ties and college girls were >> all gussied up in high heels and dresses. >> >> He doesn't like where fandom is headed today. He hates that some stadiums >> are being taken over by drunken, profane fans. He doesn't own a computer and >> shakes his head sadly when told of the negative dialogue that is rampant on >> today's fan message boards. >> >> "I don't like all the negative stuff out there," he told me once. "It used >> to be if you were unhappy with your team, you'd talk about it among friends. >> Now, people are punching buttons on a computer and sending it out all over >> the world. "I've always thought teams face enough negativism from the >> opposing fans. They don't need it from their own fans, too. Maybe I'm >> old-fashioned, but I believe you support your team, your players, your >> coach, no matter what." >> >> Through six decades and 11 coaches, he's done just that, He's cheered >> unconditionally for his team, motivating millions of fans at hundreds of >> games. >> >> One more time Saturday he will sprint out onto the field, silence the >> crowd by blowing his whistle and then he'll hold up that tattered handmade >> sign that simply says "2-Bits." >> >> And then he'll point to the fans, whirl around, thrust his arm into the >> air and start his cheer: >> >> *Two bits!* >> >> *Four bits!* >> >> *Six bits!* >> >> *A dollar!* >> >> *All for the Gators, stand up and holler!* >> >> Remember what he said earlier? >> >> He said, "The Gators are on top now. They don't need me like they used >> to." >> >> He couldn't be more wrong. >> >> In today's real world where the economy is crumbling and the future looks >> grim, we need somebody who will inspire us to cheer when we feel like >> booing. >> >> And in today's sports world of noxious negativity, drunken debauchery and >> message-board misery, we need that old man in the yellow shirt. >> >> The fact is we need Mr. Two-Bits now more than ever. >> >> Mike Bianchi can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> >> >> >
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