All of the Gator fans there were very respectful. I am sorry you had a poor visit there. This was my fourth or fifth game there.
Like anywhere there were obnoxious fans. No one ever said anything ugly to me however. Officiating during the game was not very good. There were a lot of missed calls both ways. I did not believe that the officials were particularly biased in either direction or toward any particular player. Before the game one of the officials came up into the stands to greet a friend right next to me. I was worried that we might not get fair officiating but again I could not tell any bias. Jerry From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Randy Lyons Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 9:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [gatortalk] I just got home from Athens! Thanks for the game report, Jerry. You're a better man than me. After my "once in a lifetime" visit to Athens for the FL-GA football game, I swore I'd never go back. Don't like them dawgs. Nope! Not even a little bit. They just make me crazy. J Good win for the good guys. Did you chant "It's GREAT to BE a Florida GATOR!" on the way out of their arena? Randy From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jerry Belloit Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 1:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [gatortalk] I just got home from Athens! It was a great win tonight! The crowd was the largest I have ever seen in Athens. The weather was cold and rainy and kept some of the season ticket holders home. Even though I was surrounded by Dogs, they were generally polite. I was careful to avoid being obnoxious, however. The announcer warned the crowd several times to be polite and courteous. I got to the game about 5:30. (I was taking my 92 year old uncle who is a long-time season ticket holder.) My seats were on the eighth row just center court of the Georgia Bench. The Georgia Coach's wife was in the row in front of me just across the aisle. She was there with her two daughters. To the right of me at end court was the Georgia student section. They had given all of the students white t-shirts and white handkerchiefs to waive and they were pretty rowdy but not like the rowdy reptiles. The game was very tight during regulation. We played OK the first half but Georgia out rebounded by ten at the half. The second half, we played much better until the last two minutes. Scotty and Prather were overwhelmed during the first half. Prather played very little the second but Scotty contributed several quality minutes giving the two starters some rest. Patrick Young made several freshman mistakes especially on defense but contributed in giving Macklin a blow. Murphy also was manhandled during the first half and played relatively little. The second half he still made a few defensive mistakes but did very well on offense. He had two post baskets and a killer 3-pointer. Parsons played hard but could not buy a basket with a bucket of cash during regulation. I don't remember what he scored during regulation, but he missed several. Defensively he played pretty well but was out-quicked defending the post. However, in overtime, he was a beast at both ends of the court. Walker played a very good game and had fewer turnovers than normal. In fact the team was generally better about turnovers than what I have seen much of the season. Boynton and Walker generally did a good job on defense but Walker got caught several times on ball screens and allowed some threes especially late in regulation when Florida almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The only time the crowd came close to making as much noise as the O-dome was an the end of regulation when Georgia got the put-back to tie the game. During the first overtime, it looked like we were starting to be gassed. In fact, I thought that we had blown it until Walker streaked down the court and hit that amazing 3-pointer to send the game into the second overtime. We actually played with much more energy the second overtime. Georgia began to lose their legs. With about two minutes to go in the second overtime, the Gators pulled away and the crowd begin to thin. By the end of the game, the Georgia crowd was almost gone. I was surprised at the end to see as many Gators as I did. Early I only counted about a dozen. It was clear that there were several more scattered around the gym. On the way back to my uncle's home, we listed to the Georgia radio station post-game. The Georgia coach and his players were demoralized. They thought they had won it during the first overtime (as did I). Well it is almost 1:00 now and way past my bedtime. I wanted to send this before I called it a night. Good night Gators! Jerry -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
