When people ask me what my favorite season is, of course I say football season! Game day in the Swamp is the best day of the week. Here's how you know it's a football Saturday in Gator Nation:
1. Orange and blue becomes a fashion statement.
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It's only acceptable to wear this color combination if you're a Florida Gator. On game day, there's seas of orange and blue.
2. Tailgates are set up all over the city of Gainesville.
Being an SEC school, tailgating is HUGE. We're known to be some awesome tailGATORS.
3. BEAT t-shirts.
BEAT t-shirts are a long-standing tradition for major games. The day before the game, camp out in the huge line to get your shirt!
4. Uber has an insane surge rate.
It's better for your health and your wallet to just walk on game day. The uber surge goes through the roof!
5. Gator Walk.
2 hours and 25 minutes before every home game, crowd outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to cheer on the Florida Gators football team as they enter the stadium! Get a high five, take a selfie!
6. The Pride of the Sunshine.
It's truly amazing to watch the Gator Marching Band do their work, making shape of Florida and spelling out 'Gators' while simultaneously playing instruments.
7. ORANGEEE!! BLUEEE!!
Student section/visitor side- you yell orange! Home side- you yell blue! Join in the chant of the teams colors.
8. "In all kinds of weather," literally.
In "We Are The Boys" says "in all kinds of weather we all stick together." It's not lying. (Throwback to the first home game of the 2016 season against UMass when it was monsooning.)
9. "Only Gators get out alive."
Try not to get chills as the pre-game video plays and the team runs out to "only Gators get out alive."
10. A rowdy student section.
The University of Florida student section is like no other. Get ready to stand the whole game and go wild for the Gators!
11. Right over left!
How to do the Gator chomp: right over left and make that chomp fierce. Having a good chomp is a necessity in the Swamp.
12. Mr. Two Bits.
In 1949, George Edmondson Jr. started Mr. Two Bits and ever since it's been a pre-game tradition. "Two Bits! Four Bits! Six Bits! A Dollar! All for the Gators Stand up and holler!"
13. Social media is filled with game day pictures.
Taking pictures and posting your Gator pride is a MUST. There's no doubt you'll have plenty to choose from.
14. "We Are The Boys" after the 3rd quarter.
One of my personal favorite game day traditions is swaying with my fellow Gators after the 3rd quarter while singing "We Are The Boys." I love looking up and seeing all the fans swaying back and forth. We're all family here in Gator Nation.
15. "It's Great to be a Florida Gator."
After every game, chant along to "It's Great to be a Florida Gator." It really is great to be a Gator.
As the 2016 football season starts to wrap up, we begin to mourn, but look forward to all seasons to come. Once a Gator, always a Gator! Being apart of Gator Nation is for a lifetime, not just you're time here as a student. Let's hear it for Florida Football! Go Gators.
