Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A fun night of watching Old Gator Games.

Wednesday night I went out to dinner with my Dad, He had been in Europe most of the summer, so it was the first time we actually talked in over a couple of months. We had stayed in touch over E-mails and what have you, but until tonight, I had not talked with him for several months. Sure, during the time period that he was off in Europe, I had almost wrecked his car, I also mostly killed his plants. What the hell are sons for if they cant kill some plants and wreck some cars? but I digress, it was a good night, filled with all you can eat Steak, and a bottle of wine. HELL YES it was good! Glad to see you again big guy!
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After Dinner, I came home and mindlessly turned on the T.V. This mindless act though, turned out to be an absolute awesome thing.
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The last time I had the T.V. on, it was because I was watching the Marlins get their ass kicked 10 to 1 by the lowly ass Padres. When I turned on the T.V. tonight, that same channel was showing a re-run of the 1991 Florida, Florida State game...... Oh Joy.
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Of all the football games ever played by the Gators this is truly one of the finest. It was not quite as good as the 97 UofF vs FSU game, but it was an excellent contest with an outstanding finish.
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Of Course the Gators Won that day, 14 to 9. But even in the relatively lowly score, their was all kinds of courage displayed by both teams and it truly was epic. It was hot, they were both Highly rated and the year before, FSU had Kicked the Gators Ass.
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Casey Weldon was the Quarterback that day for the Seminoles and what he did during that game was awesome. He got his ass kicked play in and play out, but he kept standing in there and throwing deadly accurate passes. When it was 14 to 3 late in the Fourth Quarter, he threw a T.D. to Amp Lee, to bring it to 14 to 9, but he also had to be carried off the field because of a hit he took on that very same play. Mr. Bowden brought in the back up QB to go for the two, which happened to be Rob Johnson, Who would of course, later on in life, lead the Bucs to their only Superbowl win. Rob got his pass Smacked down though, which ended up being huge.
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I digress, This post isn't about Brad Johnson, but really it's about that game. I remember watching it in the Lavender Mullet, which was a bar in Gainesville. this was before I had met my wife and before my life had been both so joyous and then so hard, all because of her.
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I thought about the Pre- Marriage Bill, and that day in particular, It brought me back. All the things that have happened since then, I have brought on myself. This includes rising up within a company and going through a horrendous mess of a divorce, but on that day I was just a guy who loved to watch Gator football and I was a guy who had no real worries. I still love watching Gator football, I just do it with more worries now.
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I was me that day, and I remember the joy in all of it. I am also a current acquaintance of Casey Weldon, so after watching a little bit of it, I called him to make sure he knew that this particular game was on T.V. tonight, and what Channel it was on. He answered, and asked me why I hadn't called him the night before when they played the 1990 game. (A game in which FSU won Big.) I told him it was only because I cant really remember that one. ( I lied) He didn't seem to want to turn on the T.V. and watch it though, so I did not rag on him about it to much, I mean I was just a fan, he played in it, had Surgery because of it the next day, and when most people meet him, they still ask why he didn't try to run it on that last offensive play.
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Just as a refresher, The Noles were losing 14 to 9 but they had the ball at about the Gator 8 yard line with less then two minutes and a fourth down play. Casey Rolled out, and it kind of looked like he might have been able to run it on in, but he threw a pass towards Matt Frier. It was broken up by Will White, and the Gators won.
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Just to Clarify, no way would he have been able to run it in. He told me so himself the first day I met him, years ago at a golf thing. My question that day was not that however, he had just assumed it because that was what everyone asked him. My question was if he thought Will White committed Pass Interference. He had no comment.
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Later on during the broadcast of this game, and after I had called him, He showed up on the T.V. talking with Shane Mathews, Brad Culpepper and James Bates. Of course, I called him after that again, and he explained that he had forgotten he had done that little piece regarding that particular game. It was kind of like Interactive T.V. for me, although as competitive as Casey is, I believe that he kind of regretted that I called. Not me though, it was good memories. and it was good T.V., The interactive type even though the game had been played in 1991 and the tape of him and the various Gators had been made about a year ago.



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3 comments:

Native Minnow said...

A few weeks ago, I spent quite a bit of time watching YouTube clips of Michael Jordan in his prime. Some of them were hard to watch, me being a Utah Jazz fan and all, but they made me long for the glory days of the NBA. This season was a step in the right direction, but they've still got a long way to go.

Anonymous said...

Was that the game that Dan, you and I watched together? If it was I remember being showered in beer as everyone in the mullett tossed their glass in the air when the game was over.

Bill From Gainesville said...

Minnow--- the good old days, ahh nostalgia
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Nashville Tiger fan, Yes it was you and me and Dan and Dawn (my last girlfriend before meeting my wife) we were rolling around in the beer pool or at least I was....